Pivoting the Office & Business Products Dealer Towards a Digital Future

Office product dealers face an uncertain future as their transaction-based business model comes under ever-increasing pressure from online behemoths like Amazon.

The office and business products industry was already in flux before the onset of COVID-19. However, the pace of change has significantly accelerated as businesses grapple with the post-pandemic world. This rapid evolution has left little room for office product dealers who chose to overlook the warning signs. They now face the urgent need to make crucial adjustments to their value proposition to thrive.
It is difficult to imagine that life will ultimately return to a pre-pandemic “normal” or that dealerships can thrive with a transactional business model so exposed to the threat from the online behemoths that have come to dominate internet traffic.
The customer relationships that independent dealerships have painstakingly built in their local markets will face a severe test in the coming months and years. The increasing trend of online information search and subsequent product purchases is a reality that cannot be ignored. Adapting to this online trend is not just important but crucial for the survival of these dealers.
Developing an Online Presence
To continue successfully selling the products and services that form the backbone of their value proposition, dealerships must pivot in a new direction to survive the challenges. This pivot must start with adopting initiatives designed to overcome years of online neglect by investing in developing an online presence before everyone forgets they exist. They must then move on to embrace technologies designed to work seamlessly on the mobile platform users are rapidly migrating to.

This information page contains numerous Middle Tennessee Office Products [MTOP] references. MTOP is not a live business; it is the demo website we use for informational purposes and to illustrate specific elements of our value proposition.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. The Role your Website Plays to Elevate your Online Presence

Your new website is designed to be the foundation for developing relevant traffic and improving your online presence. With employees dispersing to remote work locations and their ever-increasing tendency to search online for answers to their questions, it has never been more critical for a business to pay attention to developing its online presence.

2. Customer Relationship Management

Accumulating data and converting it to actionable business intelligence is made possible by integrating the client website, the Customer Relationship Manager (CRM), and the Marketing Platform software.

3. Get to Know Your New Website

Employees must familiarize themselves with the technology and content available on their website, designed to be leveraged to educate customers and prospects about the company’s value proposition.

4. What Your New Website Will and Will Not Do!

There are 1.5 billion websites, and the competition for traffic is intense. It doesn’t matter if you have the most basic or sophisticated site because if you don’t work the channels for traffic, no one will even know it exists.

5. Web Traffic Sources and Traffic Goals

Web traffic will be generated from multiple sources, but nobody should think just because we have a new website, it will develop automatically. It’s a long slog and hard work, but success will add value to your business.

6. Social Media and its Role in Traffic Development

Having no illusions, making social media work effectively for your company is not a walk in the park. It takes know-how, and it takes hard work.

7. Email Awareness Marketing Campaign

The awareness campaign consists of 16 email messages scheduled to be delivered over 12 weeks. Using automation and sophisticated list management, a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 12 emails are lined up for delivery to the eligible contacts. Each email contains a link to educational content related to the dealers’ value proposition.

8. Technology and the Use of Active Lists for Managing the Campaign

An essential element of world-class email marketing is leveraging the functionality of “active” lists designed to help deliver the right content to the right person at the right time.

9. Email Campaign Goals & Sales Targets

The most effective campaigns have pre-set goals. These goals create a definitive target for each element of the campaign activity and force the marketeer to thoroughly consider the possible outcomes for those elements and plan accordingly for the various “if this, then that” scenarios.

10. The Handoff from Technology to Sales

There must be a clear division of responsibilities between the technology and the human resources involved in the marketing campaign. Without a well-understood handoff, the ball will be dropped, and the campaign goals are less likely to be achieved.

11. Adding Landing Pages and Incorporating Syndicated Content

A three-stage buyer’s “journey” consists of the awareness, consideration, and decision stages. Effective marketing requires different types of content for each step of the journey.

12. Positioning a Conventional Value Proposition on a new technology platform allows dealers to broaden their thinking

Adopting a new technology platform designed for the digital era is the first step in a dealer’s transformation. The second is to embrace the Internet of Things and leverage technology to increase sales.

13. Understanding the Reality of the Challenges Associated with Developing Web Traffic

Web traffic continues to concentrate on companies such as Amazon, Google, Facebook, etc., to the detriment of local businesses and their communities. Read this section carefully and then think even more carefully about why you must widen your thinking to embrace less conventional strategies for developing your business.

14. Selling an Unconventional Value Proposition Suited to the New Normal

Stepping up to the challenge of improving the value proposition by widening the scope of thinking to embrace selling with less conventional tactics makes it more likely a dealership will compete successfully with the online behemoths.

15. The Elephant in the Room

The independent dealers’ existing delivery infrastructure is designed to support business, not home deliveries. With the acceleration of work-from-home practices, this infrastructure must be modified to handle the change in business conditions.

16. Deploying a Data Capture Agent Doesn’t Mean Dealers Must Reposition their Value Proposition to Managed Print Services

Most businesses don’t meet the typical print volume thresholds required to merit investing the time and resources needed to prepare and execute a multi-year service contract.

17. eCommerce, Automation, and Fulfillment

Most office product dealers already have an eCommerce portal, the problem is they have little to no traffic, so it fails to perform a meaningful role in transactions or new customer acquisitions.

18. Leveraging the Viral Potential of the 2CLIXZ Mobile App

Amazon has become an existential threat for many small businesses. So, the end game of this strategy is to provide a solution designed to protect them from that threat. 2CLIXZ is the final piece of the puzzle needed to help them accomplish that goal.

19. The Digital Compensation Plan Needed to Make it Happen

The sales team’s goals are dictated by the incentives built into their compensation plans. However, the goals necessary to succeed in the new digital world differ significantly from those driven by legacy compensation plans most businesses continue to offer their sales team.

1. The Role your Website Plays to Elevate your Online Presence

Your new website is designed to be the foundation for developing relevant traffic and improving your online presence. With employees dispersing to remote work locations and their ever-increasing tendency to search online for answers to their questions, it has never been more critical for a business to pay attention to developing its online presence.

For more than 65% of users, the website is the first place they visit to learn more about a company and the services it provides. So, it’s important to provide a well-designed site with relevant content that clearly presents your value proposition. Most users seeking information do so by Google search so unless your site appears in search results, your business will be overlooked.

In the absence of an online presence businesses are bypassed so, eventually, they will disapear.

User Search Behavior

You may have noticed that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was getting increasingly difficult to set appointments with prospects and present face-to-face sales pitches. Even with the best and most loyal customers who, historically, gave you the time you asked for, it is no longer necessarily the case. Underlying this change is the widespread availability of high-quality online information. In the past, customers relied upon their sales reps to get answers to their questions, but now they independently search online for their answers.

Your new website has been designed with this behavioural change in mind.

Featured Content

There is a library of industry-related “featured content” pages designed to help potential buyers by providing informative, educational material targeted to answer not only their direct questions but also those questions they do not usually know enough to ask. Not only is this content designed to help educate potential buyers on subject matter closely related to your value proposition, but it will also start to establish trust and authority that you, as a business, know what you are talking about.

Search Engine Optimization

Your website has been designed to conform to the best online practices regarding search engine optimization to maximize the ranking in search results within the clients’ local market.

Integrated with Google Analytics, Search Console, and Google Tag Manager

  1. Integrated with Google Search Console
  2. Unique “rule-conforming” meta descriptions, page titles, and URLs
  3. Clean, logical layout with relevant internal page links

Developing Trust

With the change in search habits, our goal is to help your business gradually appear higher in organic search results while providing users with a great experience.

  1. Clean, functional design
  2. Intuitive to navigate
  3. Educational content relevant to what they were searching for
  4. Relevant content strongly related to your value proposition.

Demonstrate authority

The concept is to demonstrate authority in your field which serves to build trust with the audience. Trust can start to be established in a number of ways:

  1. Accessibility – physical address, phone numbers, email addresses. Although users may not typically “look” for this information, they notice when it is missing.
  2. Publish the management team using high-quality images, and showing contact details and links to social profiles. Again, most visitors are looking for reassurance that a management team will be accessible if needed in the future. When details are absent, the omission is noted, and an important building block necessary for establishing trust has been overlooked.
  3. Social proof – testimonials and reviews. These are strategically important. It is not difficult to ask your customers for reviews.
      • Make this an efficient process by setting up a template in your HubSpot marketing platform and periodically ask your customers for a review.
      • Include a link to Google My Business, Yelp, Yellow Pages, etc.
      • Favorable reviews can eventually be developed into testimonials that should be posted on your website.
      • This becomes fresh content that the search engines will recognize as new and understand that the website is being worked on.
      • The more the site is worked, the more likely the robots will crawl it.
      • The more activity, the more likely the domain authority will start to improve
      • The higher the domain authority, the higher the content will be placed in organic search results.
      • A virtuous cycle starts that leads to more traffic.

Links to active social media accounts.

Customers and prospects will review your social media accounts. New customer prospects will want to develop an understanding of your expertise and culture long before they ever do business with you. if your social media sites are incomplete, inconsistently branded, dormant, or have inappropriate content, then all these factors will contribute toward disqualifying you as a potential supplier.

Share your content directly from your site to your favorite social account. Remember, that post will appear in your followers’ timeline. They may or may not click on the post, but you will get impressions; without impressions, you will never get any clicks. Sharing timely and relevant content that your followers may be interested in, earns likes, shares, and comments. We have made it easy for you, social share links are embedded on every article page.

Click on the gallery images below to see examples of the features described above.

2. Customer Relationship Management

Integrating the client website, the Customer Relationship Manager (CRM), and the Marketing Platform software means accumulated data can be converted into actionable business intelligence.

We have integrated your new website into your HubSpot CRM and Marketing portal. This is important because the content and technology have been developed to work together. Getting a visitor to your website is one thing, but deploying technology designed to “convert” that visitor into a lead is entirely different.

You will find technology examples as follows:

a. Chat – a significant portion of website visitors prefer chat features to communicate their questions.

CRM_Communication_Channels_Chat

b. Bots (automated chat sequences). Bots are not for everyone, but they are becoming an essential channel for communicating and capturing valuable visitor information. However, rule #1 is to tell visitors upfront what to expect. Nothing is more infuriating for a user than engaging with a bot when they think it is a natural person who can answer their questions.

Service_and_Repair_Bot

c. Smart forms – fields pre-populated when information is already known. See the example below; email and first/last name have been previously captured. We do not want to ask visitors to key the same information twice, so we prepopulate the known fields. However, what we did not previously know, in this example, was the phone number or the company name. So, to access the free content offer, these two additional fields must be completed, and the form must be submitted. Through this process, we gradually build a more detailed profile of the returning visitor. This is the process by which we learn more about the persona and the topics that interest them.

CRM_Smart_Forms

d. Popups – Popups have earned themselves a questionable reputation because, in many cases, marketers have poorly positioned and timed them on website pages. Unfortunately, it has become a common practice to blast a visitor with a pop-up when they arrive on the site’s home page. As visitors, we often react in two ways: by leaving the page or unthinkingly dismissing the popup. We have trained ourselves to ignore and remove them as quickly as possible. However, a well-placed, well-timed, relevant popup can generate different results. By waiting until a visitor has engaged with the content on your site and perhaps clicked through a few pages, the tolerance for taking the time to read and engage with one can be significantly improved.

MTOP_Pop_Up_On_Exit_Content

e. Consolidated “In-Box” in the CRM for taking ownership of visitor engagement activity.

CRM_Consolidated_InBox

CRM Summary

The idea here is to provide enough information for a visitor to engage with one of these communication channels, submit a form, or engage in a chat that enables us to place an authorised cookie. Once we have the cookie in place, we can track engagement and determine what the visitor is interested in. All pages visited, all links clicked, and all forms completed will be automatically recorded in the contact timeline.

Visitors will only be able to provide you with their email addresses if they consider the content being offered a fair exchange for their contact details. This “fair-trade” concept underlies modern-day visit-to-lead conversion strategies used on advanced websites.

Having explained the concept of using valuable content as the foundation for a visit-to-lead conversion strategy, it becomes a logical extension to integrate all this activity into the provided CRM portal. Using the HubSpot CRM portal, all visitor activity and contact management are consolidated under the individual contact records. Not only does this automatically create a summary of user activity, but once the client email service is integrated, all email activity (send, opens, clicks) is also recorded to the central contact record.

Automated email follow-up – immediately after a visit to lead conversion event has occurred, a thank-you email containing a link to additional related information can be automatically launched. A further email can also be scheduled to be sent after a user-set period. So long as a sensible schedule for launching automated emails is maintained, and they remain timely and relevant, this can be an effective strategy for providing access to educational content related to your value proposition. Remember, you may be educating a lead about a problem they may not even be aware they have.

TCO White Paper Follow-up Email

CRM_Contact_Record_Timeline_Knowledge_Base

Shared Knowledge Base (CRM)

This combines to create a centralised, shared knowledge base for all your contacts. Not only does this provide access to a consistent and up-to-date information source for dealing with customers and prospects, but it also enables the contacts to be segmented into different lists according to their:

  1. Needs
  2. Experiences
  3. Behaviours
  4. Goals

Collectively, these four categories comprise the persona, and the segmentation this facilitates underlies the ability to conduct world-class marketing. Think of it this way: there is no point in sending the same email content to the front desk administrator as the CEO because they have different personas. Effective email marketing requires sending the right content to the right person at the right time; contact list segmentation allows you to accomplish this. Sending the same content to 5,000 contacts without considering their persona and interests results in spam reports, high opt-out rates, and low engagement as measured by opens and clicks. The lower your open and click rates and the higher the opt-out and spam reports, the less chance your email has of getting into an In-Box and ending up in a junk folder instead.

Integrated email marketing is a powerful platform feature. Creating emails from provided templates simplifies the process, and leveraging integrated, segmented contact lists to distribute emails is the foundation for effective email marketing. Combined with integrated analytics and the contacts’ timelines, this capability provides a robust set of actionable business intelligence.

Marketing_Email_Templates

Using_Email_Templates

CRM_Integrated_Email_Analytics

Desktop email integration

Utilising technology makes it possible to determine how engaged your email recipients are one-to-one. After installing the HubSpot Sales extension for Outlook or Gmail and connecting with your HubSpot portal, the user is notified when a recipient opens an email and if any clicks are performed within the email content. So, for example, if a salesperson sends a proposal to a prospect and the email remains unopened, and the proposal file link is unclicked, then a strong message can be interpreted that the prospective client has other priorities. On the other hand, if the proposal is sent, immediately opened, and the proposal file downloaded, then the sender can interpret a strong message of interest. Notifications are automatically sent to the user so the rate of recipient engagement can be “absorbed” throughout the working day.

Email_CRM_Integration_Features

The volume of activity is reported and summarised to the HubSpot dashboard.

All one-to-one emails are automatically recorded in the contact record in the HubSpot CRM. If the contact already exists, the activity is matched up automatically; if it does not, it is created automatically.

Using the HubSpot signature generator, a professional signature block can be created and deployed companywide, displaying professionalism to clients and prospects. This signature block can be loaded into the client account (i.e. MS Outlook or Gmail) and the individual users’ HubSpot account. This means the user can seamlessly launch emails directly from HubSpot or Outlook/Gmail, depending on which platform is more convenient.

Regardless of where the email is launched, it is automatically copied to the CRM and placed in the client (MS Outlook/Gmail) sent box.

Notifications

Your website has been designed to convert visitors to leads. This may be accomplished by way of any of the supported communication channels:

  1. Telephone
  2. Email
  3. Chat
  4. Smart Forms/Bots

Telephone and email are communication channels we are all familiar with and know how to respond – pick up the phone, talk, and reply to emails. Chat, intelligent forms, and bots are a little different. These are real-time activities that take place on your website. They need to be dealt with quickly. While a sender of an email may accept 24 hours as reasonable for a reply, a visitor who wants to communicate by chat will not. They expect an almost instant reply.

With a bot, it is no problem—the question sequence is automated, and the response to customer input is very fast. It is really no more than an interactive form. So, think of similar forms of bots for customer input. Both need a prompt response, but the reply or call doesn’t have to be instantaneous.

Regardless of the form of on-site communication, the person responsible must be notified so they know a chat has been started or a bot/form has been submitted.

Of course, on-site communication can take place 24/7. It will take place regardless of whether you are open or closed. Let us say you operate M-F, 9-5; then you can specify the hours of operation for your chat desk. So, when you are closed, the customer is informed accordingly and invited to leave an email address so they can be contacted during regular business hours.

CRM_Browser_Integtration_Notification_Stream

Notifications enable this system to work. The default is by email and discreet popup on a desktop or laptop PC. When deployed, they can also be used via the HubSpot mobile app, extending your business hours.

Templates

Setting up email templates can significantly improve productivity. Please think about this when you ask for customer reviews of your performance. As noted, I would like to ask for performance reviews to be a daily routine. You probably already know this, but you are too busy, which never happens.

Could you consider it in the context of preparing a one-time email link complete with your signature line and a couple of links, say one to Google and one to Yelp? You are making it easy for the customer because they do not have to search for how and where to place a review. They can click the link, rate your performance, write a few words, and be done.

Email Template - Review Request

Email Review Request

Utilising a previously prepared template stored in HubSpot helps eliminate the often-cited “I don’t have time” issue. We have used the example of seeking a customer review, but templates can be used in many regularly occurring customer communication messages and add significant time savings. They can also overcome resistance to action caused by lack of time or motivation.

3. Get to Know Your New Website

Employees must familiarize themselves with the technology and content on their website, designed to be leveraged to educate customers and prospects about the company’s value proposition.

Directly below is a slide deck incorporating suggestions for interacting with your new website. This deck is designed to guide you through the website and its features, ensuring you are well-prepared to navigate and utilize it effectively.

Each employee should be encouraged to follow the activity instructions designed to help everyone understand the technology deployed and its purpose. This activity will also familiarise everyone with the site’s content and help them recognise that providing a customer or prospect with a link to relevant educational content may be beneficial.

Remember, your CRM will automatically record all the employees’ website activity. Offer a prize to the employee who visits the most pages, spends the most time on the site, fills in the most forms, shares content strategically and appropriately, etc.

Encourage employees to conduct this activity within a specified time frame, i.e., within one week. Then send a survey/questionnaire to get feedback about their experience.

4. What your new website will and will not do

There are 1.5 billion websites, and the competition for traffic is intense. It doesn’t matter if you have the most basic or most sophisticated site; if you don’t work the traffic channels, no one will even know it exists.

Your website is a foundation from which to start working. It will not automatically:

  1. Start to generate relevant traffic.
  2. Increase your domain authority.
  3. Start to develop authoritative backlinks.
  4. Generate traffic from your social channels.

What must be done to get the most value out of your website investment?

This material has been developed to help educate business owners about office products and business equipment (print) channels and their employees about the technology and strategy that underlies the website architecture and the purpose of the content placed on the site.

  1. Publishing and forgetting the company site because there are more important things to do will compromise the investment.
  2. Improving a website’s prospects to be successful requires a consistent and coordinated effort.

We desire to work in a client/supplier partnership over an extended period. It is more likely to be achieved in a partnership to be successful and accomplish web traffic development goals. Most smaller businesses need to gain the skill set to carry out certain essential activities, so we bring that expertise to the table. However, there is only so much we, as service providers, can do, and we will only succeed if the client does their part. Likewise, if the client does their part and we do not do ours, the traffic development goals are also unlikely to be achieved. The idea is to work together as a team and to enjoy extraordinary results.

The client’s must-do list:

  1. Maintain contact records – persona, selling cycle stage, contact ownership, etc.
  2. Like, share, & comment on the social content on its social media accounts.
  3. Professionalise individual LinkedIn accounts.
  4. Like, share, & comment on its customers’ and prospects’ social media content.
  5. Build its LinkedIn connections, making sure they are relevant connections.
  6. Follow its own company on LinkedIn and make sure each employee is recognised as an employee.
  7. Seek backlinks (inbound) from its leading partners to help improve its domain authority.

Our must-do list:

  1. Continue to fine-tune and optimise the website for a dynamic and continually evolving SEO environment.
  2. Provide best-practice email marketing, including segmented lists, which is essential for delivering the right content to the right person at the right time.
  3. Structure, launch, and manage a 13-week email “brand awareness” marketing campaign.
  4. She posted social content on LinkedIn and Facebook and coordinated with the email campaign activity.
  5. Provide professional landing page templates designed to promote the individual elements of the client value proposition.
  6. Link these landing pages to individual client email marketing campaigns.
  7. Provide 3-4 new “current interest” featured articles per year.

5. Web Traffic Sources and Traffic Goals

Web traffic will be generated from multiple sources, but nobody should think that because a website is new, it will develop automatically. It’s a long slog and hard work, but success will add value to your business.

Generating traffic for a website with a Domain Authority (DA) in the lower quartile (below 25) presents several challenges. Such websites typically struggle to rank highly on search engine result pages (SERPs), making it difficult for potential visitors to find them organically. Lower DA often correlates with fewer inbound links from reputable sites, which are crucial for search engine algorithms that prioritize well-linked pages. Additionally, new or low-authority websites might lack substantial content, which is essential for engaging users and encouraging longer site visits. Competing against established websites for keywords can be particularly tough, as higher-authority sites usually dominate these rankings. This necessitates a strategic approach to content creation, focusing on niche topics and long-tail keywords to build authority gradually. Furthermore, lower DA sites may face skepticism from users and other websites, impacting their ability to form partnerships or gain trust. Addressing these challenges requires consistent, high-quality content and targeted SEO efforts.

Effective reputation management in the digital landscape relies on multiple email authentication and security protocols, each contributing to the overall credibility and security of a domain.

Domain Authority (DA) measures a website’s potential to rank on search engine result pages, impacting visibility and perceived reliability. Domain Reputation (DR) evaluates the trustworthiness of a domain based on email-sending practices and associations with malicious activity, which is crucial for maintaining good standing in email communication and internet security. IP Reputation similarly assesses the reliability of an IP address, influencing email deliverability and the likelihood of being blocked by security systems.

SSL Certificates play a vital role in establishing a secure, encrypted connection between a web server and a browser, enhancing user trust and data security. DMARC builds on SPF and DKIM to provide a comprehensive email authentication protocol, helping domain owners prevent phishing and email spoofing by specifying handling policies for unauthenticated emails and receiving detailed reports on email activity.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) are fundamental in verifying the legitimacy of email senders and ensuring email content integrity. MTA-STS (Mail Transfer Agent Strict Transport Security) and TLS-RPT (Transport Layer Security Reporting) further secure email transmissions by enforcing the use of TLS for email transfer and providing reports on delivery issues, respectively.

Finally, BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) enhances brand visibility and email credibility by allowing organizations to display their logo in authenticated emails, helping recipients quickly identify legitimate communications.

Together, these elements create a robust framework for managing and enhancing domain reputation, ensuring secure communications, and building trust with users and recipients.

Traffic Sources

Direct Traffic

Visitors who already know you and have typed your web address without clicking on a link.

Organic Traffic

Unpaid traffic that usually comes from search engine results pages (SERPs).

Referral Traffic

Traffic resulting from third-party links. For example, if you have an inbound link from Hewlett Packard and a visitor on the HP site clicks through to yours from that link, then that visit is deemed a referral.

Email Traffic

Traffic from email marketing that has been properly tagged with an email parameter. Traffic volume will depend on campaign activity, audience size and engagement. Deliverability will be impacted by the quality of the IP reputation.

Unassigned Traffic

Unable to determine source – probably from a link in a text message for example

Social Traffic

Traffic from social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, etc. The volume of organic social traffic will be determined by the size and quality of the audience alongside the frequency and quality of social posts.

Paid Web Traffic

Web traffic is generated from paid advertisements across the internet, predominantly on the Google search platform. This can take the form of paying for impressions or paying for clicks.

Paid Social Traffic

Boosting/Promoting Social Traffic in search of click-through traffic to web or landing pages

Google Analytics

Users

The total number of active users over a specified period.

Views per User

The average number of mobile App screens or web pages viewed per user.

Sessions

The number of sessions (website visits) that began on your site or App.

Engaged Sessions

The number of sessions that lasted longer than 10 seconds, or had a key event, or had two or more screen or page views.

Engaged Sessions per User

The average session count per active user for the selected time period is calculated by dividing the number of engaged sessions by the number of users.

Events

The Event Counter in Google Analytics 4 measures the total number of times a specific event has occurred on your website or App, providing insight into user engagement and behavior. Examples include page view, scroll, click, pages per session, time-on-site, etc. Custom events can be created.

Events per Session

The average number of events per session is calculated by dividing the number of events by the number of sessions. The higher the event per session count, the higher the levels of user engagement taking place.

Average Engagement Time per Session

In Google Analytics 4 (GA4), the average engagement time per session is calculated by dividing the total duration of all engaged sessions by the total number of sessions within a given time period. For example, if the total duration of all engaged sessions was 100 hours and there were 1,000 sessions, then the average engagement time per session equals 100/1,000=0.1×60=6 mins.

Total Time on Site

This metric is not displayed in GA4 but is easily calculated by multiplying the average Session Duration by the number of Sessions over a predetermined period of time. For example: Avg. Session = 6 Mins. x No. of Sessions (1,000) = 6,000 minutes divided by 60 = 100 hours.

Average Engagement Time per Engaged Session

Not displayed in GA4, but considered a key metric calculated by dividing the total duration of sessions over a selected period by the number of engaged sessions. For example, if the total duration was 100 hours for 1,000 sessions and the engagement rate was 40%, then the average engagement time per engaged session is calculated as follows: 100 hrs./1,000 (sessions) x40% (engagement rate) =100/400=.25*60=15 mins.

Engagement Rate

Prior to GA4, Google used to show the Bounce Rate. Now, instead of bounce, Google displays the Engagement Rate (effectively the inverse of bounce). It is calculated by dividing the number of Engaged Sessions by the total number of Sessions. For example, if Total Sessions = 1,000 and Total Engaged Sessions = 400, 400/1,000=40%. The higher the Engagement Rate, the more engaged the users are.

Conversion Rate

It is not calculated in GA4 but is considered a key metric, which we calculate as follows. The assumption is that the longer the session and the higher the number of events per session, the higher the conversion rate is expected to be. A conversion occurs when a visitor fills in a form to request more information; in so doing, the contact details are captured, and the visitor has been converted to a lead.

Reputation Management

Domain Authority

Domain Authority (DA) is a search engine ranking score developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs). It ranges from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating a greater ability to rank. DA is calculated by evaluating multiple factors, including linking root domains and the number of total links, into a single score. This metric is used to compare websites or track a website’s “ranking strength” over time.

Brand Authority

Early in 2024 Moz introduced a new KPI called “Brand Authority” to measure the strength and salience of a brand. This metric assigns an “online brand strength” score between 1 and 100, which captures broad signals of a brand’s influence, including both online and offline factors. It helps marketers understand their brand’s overall impact, identify marketing gaps, and benchmark against competitors.

Domain Reputation

Domain Reputation (DR) is a measure of a domain’s trustworthiness and credibility. It is often used in the context of email delivery and internet security. It evaluates factors such as email-sending practices, spam reports, and domain age to determine the likelihood of a domain being associated with spam or malicious activity. A higher domain reputation indicates a greater level of trust, which can enhance email deliverability and overall online presence.

IP Reputation

IP Reputation is a measure of the trustworthiness and reliability of an IP address, often used in the context of email delivery and cybersecurity. It evaluates factors such as the history of the IP address in sending spam, the volume of email traffic, and any associations with malicious activities. A higher IP reputation indicates that the IP address is considered safe and reliable, which can improve email deliverability and reduce the likelihood of being blocked or blacklisted by security systems.

SSL

An SSL Certificate (Secure Sockets Layer Certificate) is a digital certificate that authenticates a website’s identity and enables an encrypted connection. It ensures that data transmitted between the web server and the browser remains private and secure. Websites with SSL certificates use HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) rather than HTTP, enhancing security and trustworthiness for users.

DMARC

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is an email authentication protocol that helps protect email domains from being used in phishing and email spoofing attacks. It builds on SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) to provide a way for domain owners to publish policies on how email from their domain should be handled if it fails authentication checks. DMARC also provides a mechanism for receiving reports about emails sent from their domain, allowing domain owners to monitor and improve their email security.

SPF

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is an email authentication protocol that helps prevent email spoofing by allowing domain owners to specify which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of their domain. By publishing SPF records in the domain’s DNS, receiving mail servers can check the SPF records to verify that incoming emails claiming to be from the domain are sent from an authorized IP address. If the sender’s IP address is not authorized, the email can be flagged as suspicious or rejected.

DKIM

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is an email authentication method that allows the sender to digitally sign their emails using a private key. This signature is then verified by the recipient’s mail server using the sender’s public key, which is published in the domain’s DNS records. DKIM helps ensure that the email has not been altered during transit and confirms the sender’s identity, thereby reducing the risk of email spoofing and phishing attacks.

MTA-STS

MTA-STS (Mail Transfer Agent Strict Transport Security) is an email security protocol that helps ensure email is transmitted securely between mail servers using TLS (Transport Layer Security). By publishing an MTA-STS policy in the domain’s DNS, domain owners can enforce that their emails are only sent over secure connections, thereby preventing man-in-the-middle attacks and ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of email communications.

TLS-RPT

TLS-RPT (Transport Layer Security Reporting) is an email security protocol that provides domain owners with reports about email delivery issues related to TLS encryption. By publishing a TLS-RPT policy in their DNS records, domain owners can receive detailed reports on any problems encountered during the establishment of secure email connections, helping them identify and address issues to ensure the secure transmission of emails.

BIMI

BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) is an email authentication standard that allows organizations to display their brand logo alongside authenticated emails in recipients’ inboxes. By implementing BIMI, domain owners can enhance their brand visibility and email credibility, providing a visual indicator of email authenticity and helping to reduce the likelihood of phishing and spoofing attacks.

Keywords

Strength

A keyword’s overall effectiveness and competitiveness in driving traffic and achieving high rankings in search engine results. Keyword strength is influenced by search volume, competition level, and the keyword’s ability to attract and convert the target audience. Strong keywords balance high search volume with manageable competition and high relevance to your content.

Relevancy

This measures how closely a keyword aligns with the content of a webpage and the intent of the user’s search query. High keyword relevancy means that the keyword accurately reflects the subject matter of the content and meets the expectations of users who search for that keyword. Ensuring keyword relevancy is crucial for maintaining good SEO practices and providing a positive user experience.

Rank

Where the domain or URL ranks for a specified keyword on the first page of the search results.

Volume

The monthly volume represents how often a term or phrase is searched for in Google.

Difficulty

A score from 0 (easy) to 100 (difficult) that estimates how difficult it is to rank higher than current competitors on the first page of search results.

Organic CTR

An estimate of the percentage of clicks (click-through rate) available to the traditional, organic links on the search engine results page (SERP). When other SERP features (ads, verticals, etc.) compete for attention, this score is lower.

CTR and Rank

The CTR is greatly impacted by the rank of the keyword or phrase in the SERP. Between them, the first three results capture between 53% – 59% of all clicks.

Engagement & Ranking

Improving engagement rates alongside a sophisticated keyword strategy will generally lead to higher rankings. Google will not reward a domain with higher search rank results if users are not sending clear signals that the content is valuable and relevant to the keywords they are clicking on.

Crunching the numbers

I rank #1 for a keyword with a difficulty of 29, a monthly search volume of 1,000, and an organic CTR of 64% – what is this likely to mean regarding web traffic? 1,000 x 64% = 640 x 30% (#1 CTR) = 192

It is essential to understand that there are no silver bullets for traffic development. Still, consistent hard work can result in high-quality, relevant visits from users who spend more time on your website. This combination ultimately fulfils the objective of increasing a business’s online profile.

Setting realistic goals and consistently working on a sound strategy over time is imperative for achieving traffic development goals.

Content Strategy and Task Outline for Developing Web Traffic:

  • Publish and maintain a conforming website with high-quality content, meta titles, descriptions, URLs, internal links, etc.
  • Intelligently incorporate well-researched keywords within your competitive range.
  • Conduct an exemplary reputation management policy covering domain and IP reputation.
  • Execute strategies to develop direct traffic and email traffic.
  • Execute a link-building strategy to improve Domain Authority and Search Engine Performance Results (SERPs).
  • Develop and start to execute a brand development strategy designed to improve Brand Authority.

 


6. Social Media and its Role in Traffic Development

Do not be fooled. Making social media work effectively for your company is not a walk in the park. It takes know-how and hard work.

Making the Most of Social Media

While we will regularly post content on your LinkedIn and Facebook social media sites, this activity only represents half of the required job. Unless engagement with that content takes place, then the impact of the postings will be negligible.

Some may wonder what the point of posting to social media is, but it makes more sense when you think of these platforms in the context of the average person spending a little over 2 hours daily on their favourite social sites. This is where most of the population has chosen to spend a significant portion of their day, making social media a powerful tool for developing brand awareness.

There are two requirements to kickstart the effort.

  1. All company employees must be encouraged to like, share, and comment on the content posted to your company pages. In doing so, the “reach” of the content is exponentially increased. To accomplish this, it should become routine for employees to spend half an hour daily performing this activity. By increasing the “reach,” we mean the number of impressions (appearances on members’ timelines) will be increased. By increasing the number of impressions, the number of clicks will be increased, the number of website visits will be increased, and the possibility of earning additional likes, shares, and comments will also be increased.
  2. It is desirable to increase the audience size because the larger the audience, the greater the potential for likes, shares, and comments. However, we must be careful when we talk about increasing the audience size because the audience must be carefully cultivated so it consists of relevant members. Your role in this cultivation process is crucial, as it ensures the audience isn’t just about the numbers but the focus on relevance, which is what makes it valuable.

Our approach to social media is about more than just developing sales opportunities or increasing the size of the audience. It’s about thoughtfully doing both. Each action you take on social media should be a plan to maximise our brand’s reach and impact strategically and be part of a larger plan.

Every salesperson has customers and prospects, and almost every one of these customers and prospects has their own social media accounts where they post content as part of their brand awareness programs. Just like you, they also want to grow their audience and get the audience to like, share, and comment on their postings. Think of this as an opportunity.

As we already noted, it is getting more difficult to get conventional sales appointments, so rather than flogging a dead horse and trying to get appointments using yesterday’s approach, the tactics to get in front of potential customers and even existing customers must change. You will get noticed by liking, sharing, and commenting on your customer’s social posts. Over time, the companies whose posts you engage with are more likely to follow you back and engage with your content. Using this tactic strategically and intelligently is far more likely to earn click-backs to your website and the possibility for ongoing engagement with your value proposition.

Liking and sharing content is essential for expanding the content reach (audience), and Facebook is an important platform for posting. However, family and friends frequently use Facebook for personal posts, so it is essential to establish a firewall between personal and business activity. The Facebook settings for achieving this can easily be overlooked, so below is a gallery of images that walk you through the required settings.

7. Email Awareness Marketing Campaign

The awareness campaign consists of 16 email messages scheduled to be delivered over 12 weeks. Through automation and sophisticated list management, a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 12 emails are lined up for delivery to the eligible contacts. Each email contains a link to educational content related to the dealers’ value proposition.

The Four Topic ThemesThe campaign is not intended as a direct attempt to sell anything. Instead, it is designed to raise awareness of a brand amongst an existing email and social audience by using thoughtful content to resonate with many of the problems existing and prospective customers are also likely to be facing.

The email campaign content is divided into four phases, with each stage consisting of a different topic group:

    1. Smaller businesses face a monumental challenge as internet traffic increasingly concentrates on giant companies like Amazon, Facebook, Google, etc. As more and more business activities are conducted online, developing the online presence of smaller local businesses has never been more critical. Unfortunately, it has also never been more challenging to do so. The three pieces of “local-theme” content that form phase 1 of the campaign are to explain the importance of local businesses’ role in a healthy economy and position your dealership as a company that understands technology is necessary to be a viable business in the digital economy. While many companies may be willing to consider doing business with a local provider, the performance requirements have been significantly increased because consumers have become accustomed to the superior service levels offered by Amazon and other online behemoths. For a smaller company lacking the technology platform necessary to deliver comparable service, competing regardless of their local presence becomes increasingly challenging.
    2. To leverage its position (relationships) in its local market, a local business must deploy technology designed to gather data to convert into business intelligence. Once in possession of the business intelligence, it must leverage this information to “get ahead of the curve” and protect its existing business (and gain new business), knowing Amazon and other behemoths do not have access to the same information.
    3. Total Cost of Ownership – many consumers are driven to make their purchase decisions by the sticker price. However, the sticker price often may not accurately indicate the total cost of ownership over the device’s expected lifetime. The educational content is written to demonstrate expertise in understanding the TCO, which is valuable to potential customers contemplating a new purchase.
    4. Information Technology – there has been an ongoing transition for business and consumer transactions to go online. Unfortunately, most small businesses have not developed an online presence and are bypassed as traffic defaults to larger companies with a commanding online presence. Unfortunately for smaller businesses, the trend to conduct business online is not likely to be reversed and, if anything, is more likely to continue to accelerate. The educational content distributed in the campaign is written to resonate with existing and potential customers about the common problems they face. In resonating with the audience, the company’s position will be elevated amongst its audience, who will be motivated to:
      1. Learn more about the links between information technology and a local business’s survival ability in the digital world.
      2. The vital role the Internet of Things plays in this process, and;
      3. How closely intertwined technology and the total cost of ownership is.

Below are links to the 12 pieces of awareness campaign content organized by topic group and dispatch sequence.

The primary goal of the awareness campaign is to educate and develop additional engagement with the audience through secondary and tertiary materials linked to each topic theme. The supplemental materials are accessible on the client’s website, which becomes the beneficiary of repeated visits. As contacts engage with the different materials, we develop a more detailed understanding of their interests. For example, some contacts may fully engage with the Local Business Topic; others may more fully engage with the Internet of Things topic. In learning where the highest levels of interest lie, the dealer’s sales team becomes empowered to offer carefully targeted demos, trials, and online meetings and eventually prepare and submit proposals for a new business that closely aligns with the customers’ needs.

Tip of the day!

Most email campaigns fail to fulfil their potential because goals for the campaign are not established in advance and because potentially valuable follow-up actions are not carried out.

  1. Campaign Goals. Each email is prepared with a goal: to click the embedded link and access the educational content. Nothing is threatening about the email or its “ask.” For free, valuable educational content is provided on a relevant topic expected to resonate.
  2. If This, Then That (iTtT). Contact engagement is the objective of the campaign. As contacts engage with the emails (opening, clicking) and reading the content, they will become educated on the subject matter and, secondly, develop an improved awareness of the client brand. Gradually, the client’s online presence will improve along with its brand recognition. However, the full potential will fail to be recognised despite this kind of activity unless subsequent steps are pre-planned and executed. This is where the iTtT rules come into play, as every potential source of engagement in the campaign has the next activity already pre-planned.
  3. The Hand-Off. Automation and email messaging can only go so far. When used wisely to deliver the right content to the right person at the right time, email can still be an effective marketing channel. However, at some point, a hand-off must occur from the automated process to a live person if progress through the buying “journey” is to continue toward the ultimate goal of conducting a sales transaction. The provided email campaign builds awareness (stage 1) and establishes a transition toward the consideration (second) stage. A salesperson must then take over to effectively orchestrate the remainder of the consideration stage and the transition to the decision stages of the buying journey.

Although the awareness campaign is not a direct attempt to sell anything, there must still be defined paths toward pre-set goals for winning new business. Here are examples of two sets of goals: one for a contact who is already a customer and another for a prospect.

Campaign Goals for Customers Vs Prospects

It is generally understood there is a greater possibility of doing more business with an existing customer than there is of winning business from a new customer.

Existing Customer Goal – launch an all-out effort to deploy the DCA throughout the customer base and work toward monetizing 100% of the monitored print devices. Deploy the 2clixz App to remove friction points associated with service calls, manual meter reads, and emergency consumables supply. Then, work to expand the reach of the DCA to capture remote employee locations.

Please click this link for an example of a landing page explaining the value of expanding the DCA coverage to capture additional machines.

Prospect Goal – Conduct a demonstration of the Data Collection Agent and obtain an agreement for a “no-obligation” install of the DCA to gather data and prepare a proposal. Be ready to include an offer for the 2clixz App as a differentiator to improve the client process of submitting service/repair requests and ink & toner supply orders.

Deploying the 2clixz App establishes the foundation for developing upsell and cross-sell opportunities. However, simultaneously and perhaps more significantly, starting to establish a user base with the 2clixz App creates the potential for initiating a less conventional market development opportunity. We will expand on this potential in Section 14 – “Selling an Unconventional Value Proposition Suited to the New Normal.”

Click this link for an example landing page designed to sign up prospects for a complimentary Data Collection Agent software trial.

Click this link for an example of a landing page designed to sign up prospects for a free install and use of the 2clixz mobile App.

8. Technology and the Use of Active Lists for Managing the Campaign

An essential element of world-class email marketing is leveraging the functionality of “active” lists, designed to help deliver the right content to the right person at the right time.

To maximize the campaign’s potential, a series of active lists determine which contacts receive which emails at the different campaign stages. Each contact’s engagement determines which emails they will receive and when.

The default criteria used for determining who the first email in the campaign will be delivered to are:

  1. We have a valid email address
  2. An “owner” has been assigned to the HubSpot CRM
  3. The contact’s first name is known

These filters are applied to the contact database in the clients’ HubSpot CRM, determining how many contacts are eligible to start the campaign and who will receive the first email termed LB_1.

After each email is launched, some recipients will open and click on the provided link. We aim to maximize the number of recipients who will open, click, and read the content provided.

Our logic for the campaign sequence differs for those who engage with the individual emails and those who do not.

Those who do not engage by opening and clicking the link are automatically removed from the current list, added to the subsequent one, and queued for the following week’s scheduled email.

For those who do open an email and click on a link, they will be automatically removed from the current list, but instead of being queued for LB_2, they will be added to the LB_Engagers list and queued for a faster follow-up email (2 days later). Our goal is to determine if the recipient is interested in the topic. To accomplish this, we will send an email with a link to the final article in the topic group, acknowledging the engagement with the content provided in LB_1 and referencing that (because they read the previous article) we thought they might have an interest in a similarly themed piece of content. If they engage with this second email, that indicates there may be more than a passing interest in the topic, and the first click was more than idle curiosity. We will leverage this knowledge in the handoff process to the client sales team.

This logic is followed throughout the campaign.

  1. A click-through on LB_1 or LB_2 means the contact is added to the LB_engaged list and queued for a follow-up email two days later with a link to LB_3. As the LB_engaged email is sent, the contact is immediately removed from the LB_Engaged list and automatically added to the IoT_1 list in readiness for the following week’s standard email blast in the IoT topic group.
  2. A click-through on IoT_1 results in a follow-up email with a link to IoT_2 two days later. The contact is removed from the IoT_Engaged list and automatically added to the TCO_1 list in readiness for the following week’s standard email blast in the TCO topic group.
  3. A click-through on TCO_1, TCO_2, or TCO_3 results in a follow-up email that includes a link to TCO_4 two days later. The contact is removed from the TCO_Engaged list and automatically added to the IT_1 list in readiness for the following week’s standard email blast.
  4. A click-through on IT_1 or IT_2 results in a follow-up email with a link to IT_3 two days later. The contact is automatically removed from the IT_Engaged list and automatically added to the appropriate “exit-bucket” (more later on the exit buckets)

A contact who clicked through to access LB_1 may not click through on the follow-up email containing the link to LB_3. However, regardless of their engagement with the follow-up email, they will be queued for IoT_1 in readiness for the following week’s standard email blast.

The narrative explaining this complex logic is difficult to follow, so to help develop a better understanding of the workflow, we have prepared an interactive Campaign Simulator to demonstrate how the email sequence changes depending on the recipients’ engagement with each of the individual messages.

How to use the interactive Campaign Simulator:
  1. The default view shows all 12 emails in the sequence.
  2. You can experiment with different entries in the “Clicked” column by selecting either a “Y” or an “N”.
  3. The number of emails in the sequence (Minimum 8, Maximum 12) will dynamically change depending on whether “Clicked” = “Y” or “N”.
  4. See if you can determine the combination of “Y” and “N” needed to display the quickest campaign duration possible while also maximizing the click-through rate.


To review the content in the twelve campaign emails and the four accelerator emails that make up the campaign, click on one of the images below to expand the image gallery.

9. Email Campaign Goals & Sales Targets

The most effective campaigns have pre-set goals. These goals create a definitive target for each element of the campaign activity and force the marketeer to thoroughly consider the possible outcomes for those elements and plan accordingly for the various “if this, then that” scenarios.

How to set campaign goals:

  1. Set the slider to equal the number of qualified email contacts you have. Qualified email contacts are those expecting marketing collateral from you. To qualify for the email campaign, three criteria are applied: a) the contacts’ first name must be known (personalization), b) an “owner” must have been assigned in HubSpot, and c) the contact email address must be deliverable (never bounced) and has not opted out from receiving marketing collateral.
  2. You can set the sliders to equal the expected open and click rates for the first email in the campaign, or you can leave the pre-set defaults. The model assumes a modest improvement in open and click-through rates throughout the campaign.

The Sales Funnel

There are five stages in the sales funnel, with “leads” defined as contacts who have engaged with one or more of the email blasts that make up the campaign. Meeting our definition of “engagement” requires opening the email and clicking the link to access the referenced content.

At the end of the campaign, we project several unique engagements by some contacts will have taken place. These contacts have engaged with the primary content and may have also engaged with secondary and tertiary content.

  1. The first stage of the funnel is to qualify the lead. This may be an existing customer or a prospect. It doesn’t matter – our interest is their engagement with the campaign.
  2. The contacts who have engaged must be qualified. In our default model, we assume 20% of those who engaged may be qualified as potential decision-makers for a new sales opportunity. You may change this conversion rate according to your expectations, and the model will be recalculated.
  3. Once the lead has been qualified, it may be handed over to the sales team to pursue. Typically, the salesperson may not always agree with marketing and will reject some marketing-qualified leads. Our default model assumes a 50% fall-out rate at the sales qualification stage. You may change this conversion rate according to your expectations, and the model will recalculate.
  4. Once sales have accepted a qualified lead, they will work toward developing a proposal. Our default model assumes a 50% fallout at the proposal stage. You may change this conversion rate according to your expectations, and the model will recalculate.
  5. The final stage is for sales to close the deal. Our default model assumes a 50% close rate on proposals submitted. You may change this conversion rate according to your expectations, and the model will recalculate.

     

    10. The Handoff from Technology to Sales

    There must be a clear division of responsibilities between the technology and the human resources involved in the marketing campaign. Without a well-understood handoff, the ball will be dropped, and the campaign goals are less likely to be achieved.

    Eight key components of the Office Product Dealers value proposition

    Even though we do not deliver product or service-specific content during the awareness campaign, the ultimate purpose is to try and win new business. So, each piece of content we provide has a purpose: to solicit a response from contacts (email opens and link clicks), which we will then use to determine where that person’s interests lie. In learning about an individual’s interests, we can then focus on delivering follow-on content that is not only linked to the topic of interest but is also much more directly linked to a specific element of the dealer’s value proposition.

    OP Dealer Mapping Interests to Landing PagesImage illustrating the mapping from interests uncovered during the awareness campaign to each element of the value proposition and then to specific aspects of “consideration” stage landing pages/content.

    What should now become clear is that interests can be mapped to multiple value proposition elements. In turn, landing pages with content developed to explain a little more about each value proposition element can then be distributed to a contact with a specific interest in a topic.

    With email marketing, there is a fine line between too little and too much activity. Consistently delivering one or two weekly emails is generally acceptable, but only if the content is relevant and compelling. Delivering too much or irrelevant material means your contacts will start to ignore your messages or, even worse, opt out altogether.

    Remember, the overriding rule underlying successful email marketing is delivering the right content to the right person at the right time.

    When contacts react or engage with your email campaign’s content, it is important not to over-react and attempt to accelerate the process before the recipient is ready.

    This is why we have a playbook to help the salesperson understand when it is the right time to step in and what action is best taken at that moment.

    The Eight Exit Buckets

    Inevitably, there will be contacts who do not engage with any of the campaign material. Some may opt out, and others may ignore it. Initially, we are more interested in those who engage than those who do not.

    Every contact who engages will be placed within the respective “exit bucket” associated with the content they engage with. If they engage with multiple topics, they may be placed in various buckets. With this accomplished through automation, we now have to define the sales actions that need to be taken according to which bucket or buckets the contacts have been placed into.

    We have two levels of engagement: first, for those who engage with only one piece of content within a content group, and second, for those who engage with two. Remember, from the simulator exercise, the maximum number of content pieces contacts can engage with in a topic group before automatically being advanced to the next topic is two.

    We are using these filters to group contacts into different exit buckets according to their interests and respective levels of engagement. For example, someone who engages with one piece of content is likely to have less potential for a future purchase than someone who has engaged with eight pieces of content and perhaps has also gone on to click into secondary and tertiary materials.

    This strategy enables us to focus a subsequent step in the engagement activity on an area where the contact has already demonstrated interest.

    Here is a visualisation of the workflow and handoff to a salesperson for a contact who has either engaged with:

    1. Both the Local Business and the Internet of Things topic groups

    2. Both Total Cost of Ownership and Information Technology topic groups.

    In each case, the workflow calls for the contract owner (salesperson) to utilize a pre-prepared email template to provide additional content via a provided link. The customised template needs to acknowledge the sales c, prepare campaign engagement that has previously taken place, and ensure a relevant context for delivering the new link to additional content.

    Once the new email has been sent, the salesperson must monitor their email notifications to confirm further engagement and then place a call to establish a direct contact for lead qualification and lead development purposes.

    Lead Qualification_1

    Of course, there are a large number of possible permutations for contact engagement so, for practical reasons, we are narrowing our focus into the following four groups:

    1. No engagement
    2. Single click – one topic
    3. Multiple clicks – one topic
    4. Multiple clicks – various topics

     

    11. Adding Landing Pages and Incorporating Syndicated Content

    A three-stage buyer’s “journey” consists of awareness, consideration, and decision stages. Effective marketing requires different types of content for each stage.

    The Buyers Journey

    What are landing pages, and when is the most appropriate stage in the buying journey to use them?

    A landing page is designed with a single purpose in mind. The underlying idea is to provide a high-quality page where typical distractions, such as those that may occur on a traditional website page structured with a menu and footer, are eliminated. By not showing links to other pages, the accessible opportunities for a visitor to navigate away before taking the action the marketeer wants are removed. It, therefore, becomes more likely that the visitors’ attention can be held for longer and that the desired outcome will be achieved.

    The landing page is designed to receive campaign traffic and thereby help the visitor better understand a specific element of the value proposition.

    To maximize the chances of accomplishing this objective, there are five essential elements a landing page must incorporate:

    1. A unique selling proposition (USP)
    2. A compelling image showing the context of use.
    3. The benefits that it is possible to obtain from using the product or service.
    4. Social proof is that the product or service does what it claims it will do.
    5. The prominent placement of a call to action enables a single conversion goal —this may be accomplished with or without a form on the page.

    We have explained the three-stage buying process with most of the focus on the awareness (first) stage and how to take advantage of what is learned from the clicks on the emails distributed throughout the awareness stage of the campaign.

    Illustrate with examples of a “consideration” style Landing Page – i.e. 2clixz, and a “decision” stage Landing Page – i.e. c|net syndicated or Digitol content.

    We are developing relevant traffic to the landing page.

    Examples of leading Office & Business Products Dealers’ value proposition elements.

    1. We are minimizing the total cost of ownership on a printing device such as a printer or multifunction machine.
    2. We are eliminating friction points often associated with repairing and maintaining printing equipment.
    3. We are improving the efficiency of the replenishment and auto-fulfilment of printer consumables.
    4. We are improving communication workflows using a mobile app configured to handle remote workers.
    5. A one-stop shop with budget control configured for dispersed spending with centralized control and tail-end spend management.
    6. Local service with prompt attention and access to decision-making management when necessary.
    7. Leveraging business intelligence to provide auto-fulfilment, reduce waste, and manage the total cost of ownership.

    We can now imagine a unique landing page for each of the value proposition’s elements, each containing sufficient detail to encourage the reader to click on the respective calls to action or to fill in the associated forms to learn more.

    Some elements of the value proposition may be more complex than others, and they may require multiple landing pages to cover the full scope of the proposition. This is to avoid cramming too much information onto a single page and risk overwhelming or confusing the reader.

    Of course, the science underlying the highest conversion rates on each of the landing pages is the intelligence gathered during the “awareness” campaign that, when used correctly, provides the ability to deliver a relevant landing page at the right time and to the right person.

    Suppose we step back to the results obtained from the awareness campaign and focus on the contacts who engaged with two of the pieces of content, for example, related to the “Internet of Things’ topic group. Because these contacts have demonstrated a specific interest, now is the time to put an additional piece of related content before them.

    The new content is specifically designed to build on awareness of a problem developed in the campaign’s first stage and help elevate thinking toward considering your value proposition as a potential solution to that problem.

    To accomplish this, we’ll use a pre-prepared email template that shows our prior interest and provides a new link to a landing page specifically designed to address a problem we now believe the lead has.

    Followup Using Template after Download from WebsiteBy clicking on the link in the follow-up email, the lead will be taken to a landing page designed for one purpose – an indication of interest in signing up for a free Data Collection Agent and Digital Device Network trial.

    Please click this link or the image below to load the landing page in a new browser window.

    MTOP Digital Device Network Landing Page

    In section 9, “Email Campaign Goals and Sales Targets”, we showed an example of the sales funnel. It is called a funnel because it is wider at the top than at the bottom. Some contacts who engaged with the awareness campaign material may have initially looked promising as potential prospects but may not qualify as actual prospects because (for example) they don’t have the authority to make a purchasing decision. Our default calculator assumes only 20% of the campaign-generated leads will be worth pursuing in terms of having decision-making authority or being positioned to influence a purchasing decision. We have also assumed that only 50% of these will subsequently be qualified by marketing as sales opportunities.

    During the consideration stage, the leads will be filtered down to those considered the most relevant and with the highest probability of eventually being converted to customers. Expectations must be realistic. In our default example, only 2.5% of the contacts engaged with the awareness campaign material will ultimately become customers.

    Below is a gallery of images showing snapshots of landing pages designed to support key elements of the dealer’s value proposition. Click on an image to enlarge and scroll the gallery.

     

    12. Positioning a Conventional Value Proposition on a new technology platform allows dealers to broaden their thinking.

    Adopting a new technology platform designed for the digital era is the first step in a dealer’s transformation. The second is to embrace the concept of the Internet of Things and leveraging technology to increase sales.

    Many office product dealers in the United States utilize legacy ERP systems. In our view, these legacy systems have been overtaken by alternatives now available in the market. However, as may be expected, despite the high cost and lack of development to keep pace with the changeover to the digital world, the dealers who use them have a fear of change because of the risk of disrupting their day-to-day business operations.

    Therefore, we must provide dealers with a compelling alternative: a technology platform that meets the requirements for a digital environment and provides a riskless implementation plan that overcomes their fear of change. This alternative must resolve the dealers’ current pain points that the legacy systems fail to address.

    However, even this won’t be enough for dealers to prosper in the long term because the mighty Amazon threatens the conventional transaction-based value proposition.

    While the first step must, therefore, be to adopt technology that eliminates the current pain points, the technology must also be capable of positioning dealers to subsequently offer a less conventional value proposition. A future-proof platform that has been developed to enable them to compete effectively in local markets with Amazon and other online behemoths.

    OP Dealer Pain Points

    We will introduce the explanation for a less conventional value proposition in Section 14. For now, we will focus on explaining how the pain points that handicap a dealer from selling its current value proposition can start to be overcome.

    If your technology platform is unable to support your business goals for the 2020s and beyond, then you must come to terms with the uncomfortable reality that your business outlook will continue to become increasingly challenged.

    The business world is rapidly moving toward subscription-based billing models, with legacy transaction-based billing becoming increasingly outdated in many business categories. Unfortunately, the typical office products dealer is usually heavily dependent on transactions, which is one of the main reasons why the online threat from Amazon has become so serious.

    To start down the path toward eventually offering a subscription-based billing model, the office products dealer must quickly acquire the skill necessary to successfully deploy the Data Capture Agent (DCA) into its existing customer base and leverage the same technology to develop proposals for new business. Dealers will utilize the data captured by the DCA to continue the conventional transaction-based business model. But that model will then be running off data that has been transformed into business intelligence. Leveraging that business intelligence will help reduce customer churn, improve new customer acquisition rates, and develop opportunities for upselling and cross-selling.

    Over time, dealers can use that same data to formulate proposals for converting the transactions into monthly subscriptions. We will explain that process and more in Section 14. But for now, it is sufficient to contextualize this future concept with a reminder that the technology platform utilized by dealers must not only enable them to compete effectively in the current business environment but also the environment that’s expected to evolve later into the 2020s and beyond. Heavy dependence on the transactional business model already raises existential questions, and these questions are unlikely to diminish over time.

    So, imagine, as a dealer, you have;

    1. Deployed a new “rule-compliant” website, implemented a “state-of-the-art” CRM and integrated marketing platform.
    2. Deployed a new eCommerce portal fully integrated with your website, with your vendors, and with your accounting system. You have eliminated existing constraints for adding and removing both products and vendors to your consolidated catalog.
    3. Commenced a world-class “awareness” style email marketing campaign and have a “consideration” style campaign lined up to follow.
    4. Everything is positioned to monitor and react appropriately to contact campaign engagement.
    5. Started some initial social media activity. You are starting to see some improvements to your website traffic. You have started to make some progress in capturing leads for potential new business.

    In short, you have started the journey necessary for improving your online presence and eliminating current pain points.

    While all of this is great progress, it, unfortunately, is still not enough because the vulnerability to online behemoths has not been eliminated. To compete successfully with these entities, you need something they don’t have. This is where the Data Capture Agent comes into play because this is what will provide you with actionable business intelligence that your competitors do not have.

    MEANINGFUL BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

    DCA Business Intelligence

    Installing the DCA is a simple process accomplished by anyone with basic computing skills. As soon as the DCA is installed, it will discover all the print devices on the network. Once it has identified them, it will monitor usage and calculate the expected cartridge replenishment dates.

    Typical email marketing may have the goal of trying to persuade a recipient to buy ink and toner from your dealership. Historically, without a DCA the typical dealer does not know what ink or toner is required, or when it is needed.

    With a DCA, it becomes possible to comply with the three golden rules required for successful email marketing.

    1. Send the right material
    2. To the right person
    3. At the right time

    Few marketers comply with these three golden rules. Many because they don’t understand the need for them and almost all because they don’t have access to the business intelligence necessary for them to comply.

    With the type of intelligence shown in the dashboard image above, that is clearly not the case. It becomes possible to deliver relevant content at exactly the time it’s needed. For example, it becomes possible to promote a yellow ink cartridge of the style needed for the Epson Workforce Pro WF-4720WDF machine.

    The DCA also provides the data needed to help quantify the business potential at a networked customer location. It is this data that underlies the upsell and cross-sell opportunities.

    Consider a dealer with a value proposition made up of the five product categories shown in the graphic below.

    The five category value proposition

    Directly below is an embedded calculator that allows you to experiment with an interactive model designed to calculate your current customers’ sales potential based on your typical customer profile and the product categories you offer.

     

    Default Model Assumptions:

    • 600 customers
    • Average 35 employees per customer
    • 21,000 employees
    • 4.3 employees per print device
    • 4,884 print devices
    • Average annual spend of $750 on ink & toner per print device



    In utilizing data captured from the DCA, we can extrapolate the overall sales potential associated with the existing customer base. We can achieve this by assuming ink and toner represents approximately 20% of the customers’ total spend on the six categories that make up the dealership’s value proposition. First, we can calculate the total ink and toner spend from the 4,884 print devices equates to $3.6M per year, and then we can calculate $18.3M in total annual sales potential based on office supplies (excluding ink and toner) representing approximately 25%, furniture 30%, Print 7.5%, Jan/San 15%, and promotional products, 2.5%.

    Product Mix by Category

    In the chart below, the blue segments represent actual trailing 12-months (TTM) sales (totaling $5M) by category across the six-hundred strong customer base, and the orange, the calculated incremental potential. We have quantified the upsell and cross-sell opportunities for each product category within the customer base with this methodology. With our dealership example showing $5M in TTM sales and $18.3M in potential, we have therefore established there are $13.3M of upselling and cross-selling opportunities spread across the categories.

    TTM Sales and Sales Potential OP Pillar-2

    In our model, we have assumed a medium-sized dealership with $5M in annual sales, 600 customers, each with an average of 35 employees. This extends to form a total pool of 21,000 employees, each estimated to have a yearly spend of $872 [$18.3M / 21,000 = $872]. Based on this calculation, we can extrapolate the total sales opportunity for the dealership for each customer or prospect as soon as the approximate number of employees is known. Furthermore, we can break down that annual sales potential by product category. The goal, of course, is to monetize each employee as close to their full potential as possible.

    Est Annual Spend by Category per Employee

     

    We developed this model to illustrate the importance of deploying the Data Capture Agent into the customer base to gain mission-critical business intelligence. Not only does this business intelligence help quantify the overall sales potential, but it also provides unique insights that ensure the dealership can stay ahead of the curve by using this information to minimize customer losses to the likes of Amazon. In the data-rich future, intelligently targeted marketing efforts can be aligned all the way down to the specific needs of individuals at the customer level.

    Just as the DCA technology is designed to be used for maximizing sales opportunities with existing customers across the full breadth of the dealer’s value proposition, it is also designed to be utilized as an integral part of the pitch in proposals for new business. By utilizing this technology, the proposal stage is elevated to another level. The first step of the process becomes the customer prospect providing consent for installing the DCA and then sitting back for 30 days while technology (rather than grunt work) gathers all the information needed for developing a compelling pitch for winning new business.

    DCA Deployment Tactics

    For dealers already offering furniture solutions that go beyond straightforward transactions and include consultations for space planning, design, assembly, and installation services, obtaining the DCA consent can become part of the overall consultative effort. With this approach, after providing training for the DCA software install and techniques for overcoming objections, the existing furniture specialist can be expected to become the lead customer-facing dealer representative for accomplishing the DCA deployment.

    With the adoption of this strategy, there is a clear objective in terms of deploying the DCA for the purpose of leveraging the information captured to upsell and cross-sell throughout the customer base. With this strategy defined, then the digital tools deployed as part of the new technology platform can start to be fully utilized. This means the first (awareness) stage of the email marketing campaign may be launched and confidently followed by the second (consideration) campaign promoting a series of landing pages closely associated with the different elements of the value proposition. As the opens and clicks accumulate, then the “owner” of each contact will start to reach out and talk to those individuals pre-armed with the knowledge of what they are actually interested in.

    Landing Pages and Consideration Stage Marketing

    Click this link to see an example Landing Page designed to introduce the incremental value of the 2clixz Mobile App to your customers.

     

    13. Understanding the Reality of the Challenges Associated with Developing Web Traffic

    Web traffic is continuing to concentrate on companies such as Amazon, Google, Facebook, etc., to the detriment of local businesses and the communities they serve. Read this section carefully and then think even more carefully about why you must widen your thinking to embrace less conventional strategies for developing your business.

    There are many barriers preventing smaller businesses from establishing a stronger online presence and, in particular, to develop relevant traffic to their websites.

    Furthermore, the conventionally understood strategies and tactics that have been deployed in the past to try and accomplish this are increasingly blocked off as Google’s platform and strategies continue to evolve.

    The two giants who dominate the bulk of web traffic are of course Amazon and Google. Let’s be crystal clear about this, for you, as a business owner neither of these entities are your friend. While you may not be able to exist without them, they each have their own interests driving their business strategies and these interests are unlikely to be aligned with yours.

    Unless you do something different and unconventional you have two options:

    1. Become part of Amazon’s salesforce by joining its marketplace platform.

    2. Pay Google substantial amounts on Ads to get off their platform and over to your website.

    Joining Amazon’s marketplace and trying to benefit from their web traffic and online presence is not a good strategic move. Remember, they own the customers that may buy your products, not you. Don’t make the mistake of thinking a couple of hundred thousand dollars of business a year belongs to you because it doesn’t, it belongs to them. Think of this in the context of being a salesman and not getting any commission for your sales and, to add insult to injury, paying anywhere from 20-30% of your sales just for the “privilege” of participating.

    1. An estimated 460,000 businesses have elected to operate within the Amazon USA market place.

    2. Less than 10% of these ever achieve more than $100,000 in annual sales.

    3. Less than 1% ever achieve more than $1M in annual sales.

    Now think about what Google is doing. First, Amazon is a tremendous threat to Google. Well over 50% of Google’s profit comes from paid search but the most valuable search (purchasing decision-related search) is migrating to Amazon where all the transactions take place.

    Unfortunately, Google’s reaction to this development does not help smaller businesses struggling to develop their online presence. In the past, there was a fairer outcome for organic searches, so long as you followed all the unwritten Google “rules” because it was possible to gradually improve your standings in the organic search results and get click-throughs to your website.

    Now, however, the rules have changed. Many will have noticed the changes that have taken place on the first page of Google search results but many are unlikely to understand the implications.

    Google No Click Search

    Google introduced “Schema Markup” rules. Basically, the promise has always been, the more you complied with Google’s rules, the better positioned you’d be in organic search results. But, what Schema Markup has evolved to become is now being termed as a “no-click” search with over 50% of all Google searches now ending without a click. It has become clear, schema markup was a pre-planned strategy by Google to keep the researcher on their platform with drill-down (expandable) search content closely related to your original search term that is made available without having to leave the Google platform.

    1. What used to be an organic click-through to a website is no longer. Instead, Google is expecting you to “pay” to leave their platform by clicking on a paid ad.

    2. Unless you are going to start paying you are not going to get any clicks. But, unfortunately, the big guys are going to out-bid and out-spend you every hour of every day of every week of every year. Ultimately, the logical conclusion is that you are not going to have any web traffic.

    The end result of Amazon and Google’s tactics will be to ensure future web traffic becomes even more highly concentrated than it already is. There is nothing positive in this outlook for smaller businesses who must improve their online presence to survive.


    14. Selling an Unconventional Value Proposition Suited to the New Normal

    Stepping up to the challenge of improving the value proposition by widening the scope of thinking to embrace selling with less conventional tactics, makes it more likely a dealership will compete successfully with the online behemoths.

    It is notoriously difficult for established businesses to widen their scope of thinking and change how they approach the market with their value proposition. This difficulty is especially pertinent when placed in the context of an era of rapid change, such as that currently associated with the digitalization of the economy and the acceleration of work-from-home (WFH) practices due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, when elements on the buyer’s side of the equation are changing, and the seller’s value proposition doesn’t keep up, a fundamental selling problem starts to develop. Given there is little room for debate that;

    • The digitalization of the economy will ever go into reverse, or;
    • Higher levels of WFH practices won’t become the established norm

    Dealers’ looking to thrive in the market have little choice except to pivot their value proposition.

    We believe the deployment of three technology initiatives makes it possible to establish the foundation for an office and business products dealer to widen its scope of thinking and provide a value proposition suited to the new business environment.

    Three Steps for a OP Dealer Pivot

    These three initiatives put technology into play that will serve to expand the dealerships’ addressable market. We have already covered the first two elements, so now we will explain the part of the mobile App 2CLIXZ.

    The initial deployment of 2CLIXZ improves the legacy value proposition by providing customers with a free tool for improved communications and printer supplies management. After applying a QR Code label to each print device discovered by the DCA, it becomes possible to provide a valuable tool for asset management, a digital communication platform for creating service or repair requests, for ordering printer supplies, and, also, for helping corporate manage budgets, regardless of increasingly dispersed work locations.

    Removing customer friction points associated with submitting requests for service and repair or supplies replenishment. Although taking this step should be a “no-brainer,” it is a baby step in the scheme of things. However, its importance should not be under-estimated in terms of the market development opportunities it subsequently becomes possible to set in motion.

    1. Upsell and cross-sell to cover a wider range of office products and supplies consumed in the work environment.
    2. Asset Management (Human and Device).
    3. Budget Control – the reality of a dispersed workforce and establishing centralized control to cover all spending.
    4. Mini-Markets- helping get small businesses online while also expanding your potential customer base.
    5. Ultimately developing a network of businesses and individuals within which the members can sell their products and services.

    Widen_Thinking_Expand_Value

    Upsell

    Typically, ink and toner may represent around 20% of the total spend on items in the five product categories generally required to operate an office environment. If 50% of the print devices in the office are currently being monetized and zero percent of those outside the corporate office, there is a significant opportunity for upselling and cross-selling into the central office and the remote locations.

    Budget Control

    To help clients consider a proposition for expanding sales into areas currently not served, there is an opportunity for a compelling addition to the value proposition by offering a system designed to help manage expenses and achieve budget control. As workers have dispersed, corporate buyers have started to lose control of what is being purchased. With 2clixz, the reality of decentralized purchasing with centralized control can be accommodated while still allowing remote workers to order what they need when they need it.

    Asset Management

    Having already taken the step to assign QR Codes to all the print devices and demonstrating real efficiency improvements as well as the elimination of customer friction points, a compelling opportunity opens up to expand the scope of the asset management well beyond copiers and printers and to capture every asset for the benefit of every customer and their employees.

    Build a Local Network

    The most unconventional aspect of expanding sales comes from deploying the 2clixz App into the local community. First and foremost, it must be well-understood that almost every local business faces the same online presence issue as almost every independent print dealer is facing and is thereby also exposed to the threat posed by Amazon and Google. There are 30 million small businesses in the United States, accounting for 64% of the new jobs created each year and 45% of the Gross Domestic Product. They play a vital role in the economic health of the overall economy, they all have a common problem, and all can benefit from a common solution.

    Insert link to “White Paper” – A strategy to Deploy 2clixz into a local market. Update/Rework this paper.

    15. The Elephant in the Room

    The independent dealers’ existing delivery infrastructure is designed to support business, not home deliveries. With the acceleration of work-from-home practices, this infrastructure must be modified to handle the change in business conditions.

    The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a trend toward higher levels of remote working, meaning employees are working less out of the corporate office and more out of home or “virtual” offices. The more employees work out of remote locations, the more the typical spend on the consumption of products used in the office is transferred out of the corporate office and into the remote locations. This development presents a business challenge for independent dealers supplying office products, business equipment, commercial furniture, etc. because less demand equates to lower sales and there is no infrastructure in place to deliver orders profitably to the residential addresses where a portion of the demand has now moved to.

    The pandemic has also accelerated a trend in favor of adopting technology and abandoning many legacy work practices. Few of us now think twice before hopping on a Zoom call and presenting a PowerPoint presentation online, rather than handing out a bunch of printed copies in a meeting where attendees used to be physically present. So, not only are employees working more out of remote locations that are difficult for dealerships to service economically, but they are also consuming less of the types of products typically offered by the dealers.

    The pandemic has also played into the hands of online behemoths such as Amazon (transactions) and Google (traffic allocation). This trend has long-lasting and significantly negative implications for local businesses. It’s not just Amazon; it’s also platforms like UberEats, Deliveroo, GrubHub, and Instacart. These are portals with large volumes of web traffic that are then parsed out to the local companies who have none of their own. Amazon subsidized free delivery with a decade and a half of losses and the patience of deep-pocketed investors. Now profitable overall, they can continue to fund free-freight using Amazon Prime and Amazon Web Service profits. Meantime, UberEats, GrubHub, Deliveroo, and Instacart have all emerged to provide consumer delivery services using “gig” workers motivated by the thought of flexible work hours, supplementing an existing income and achieving a higher level of employer independence.

    Consumers love that they can order just about anything from Amazon at great prices and have their orders quickly delivered directly to their homes. They also love to visit UberEats, or GrubHub, order from their favorite restaurant and have their food delivered directly to their homes. They may also love that they can use Instacart, do all their grocery shopping from Kroger, Publix, or other established retailers, and have their orders delivered directly to their homes. After all, everyone envisaged these activities way back in the DotCom era that preceded the 2000 financial crash, but before all the technology needed to support the vision was in place.

    Unfortunately, these developments are not favorable for local businesses. We’ve already explained the pitfalls of local companies entering the Amazon marketplace as part of an effort to overcome their lack of web traffic, but the delivery services we’ve now introduced to this narrative are no different in terms of the threat they also represent to the economic well being of local communities.

    The concept of allocating web traffic to small businesses from any dominant platform business (such as Amazon, UberEats, Yellow Pages, etc.) is doomed to disappoint the companies they are currently purporting to serve. They will immediately disappoint in terms of traffic volume because, by the time the traffic is divvied up and allocated to individual businesses, it only represents a small amount for each company. However, more importantly, they will disappoint in the long term in a far more threatening way. Local businesses will cease to be “suppliers” in the UberEats and GrubHub model because they’ll eventually operate their own kitchens to eliminate expensive restaurants as suppliers. Likewise, traditional grocery outlets will close because Instacart will fulfill from their distribution centers as foot traffic in existing stores evaporates.

    For smaller local businesses to survive, first, they must improve their value proposition to match that of the online behemoths. Second, they must figure out a way to deliver that value proposition to the location the customer wants without bankrupting themselves in the process. They must accomplish this while still being prepared to pick up the phone and talk to their customers when required and, better still, visit when appropriate. Leveraging the relationship side of doing business while matching the value proposition of the online behemoths establishes a competitive advantage.

    The emergence of gig economy workers is a recent phenomenon that will continue to mature and is unlikely to go away. However, as it stands today, the “last-mile” delivery component of the gig economy is not a sustainable business model because it does not support efficient use of the labor or capital resources it depends upon. The current model establishes the portal or platform as the component with the largest share of the value proposition because it has the web traffic that few others have. For example, the supplier (restaurant) and the service provider (delivery driver) have no power in the value equation. As a result, the platform operator strips the supplier’s profits, while the delivery driver is poorly compensated in a predatory business model that effectively places “orders” with the lowest bidder.

    There’s a reason we’re now starting to focus on the gig workers who are willing to offer their time (labor) and their capital (vehicles) to deliver orders to consumers in return for compensation. The gig workers don’t care what the product is; whether food, electronics, general supplies, etc., is immaterial to them. They want to know where the pickup is from, where the drop-off is required, and how much compensation will be provided in return for their services. This “platform-agnostic” behavior makes them a potentially valuable resource for independent resellers.

    From the consumer’s perspective, a clear demonstration of willingness to pay a premium for the convenience of having certain products delivered to their home has already been provided. In the case of a meal delivery utilizing the UberEats service, that premium may be as much as 90%, and that’s before a voluntary driver gratuity may also be added to the bill. However, while the consumer may be willing to pay a significant premium for the delivery of restaurant meals and groceries, this is undoubtedly not the case on more mundane items like office products and supplies. This is because Amazon has “trained” the typical consumer to expect “free” delivery, at least free within the context of the $150 annual fee levied for its Prime Members program.

    A typical office products dealer already delivers to its customers in its local market using a fleet of trucks and employee drivers. Each day they will receive the prior day orders from their wholesaler, already packed and labeled for their end customer, and utilize software to optimize the routes needed for making their customer deliveries into their local markets. This system works fine for commercial deliveries where the average order size is large enough to cover the delivery costs but is not suited for dozens of deliveries of smaller average dollar sizes that are more typical for WFH and B2C business activities.

    We will more fully detail the Work-From-Home (WFH) and (Business to Consumer) B2C sales opportunities and the strategies for developing them in Section 17. However, unless we can demonstrate a viable solution for the delivery model needed to support the “residential” delivery requirements, there will be no business case to explain because it can only exist if there is a viable order fulfillment solution to support it.

     

    We have tried to illustrate by leveraging technology it becomes possible to offer income opportunities to GIG workers far more attractive than the ones they have currently signed up for. Furthermore, dealers’ can achieve this without relying on a platform provider such as Amazon, Google, UberEats, Instacart, etc., who would otherwise extract all the profits they should be earning for themselves. An independent dealer doesn’t need an established platform to obtain its GIG workers for delivery services (even if they were made available to them) because they only need a small number of drivers to fulfill a relatively large number of residential orders.

    Delivering 50,000 residential orders over 12 months (five days per week) only needs seven full-time-equivalent GIG drivers. A dealer can appeal to its employees and find sufficient labor resources from their family members and friends to meet its requirements. When the OP “Route” model can generate five times the income (over the same number of working hours) as the UberEats model, word of mouth will quickly spread, and GIG workers will move to where the money is. In light of the substantial difference in income opportunity, it is difficult to imagine a resource allocation issue that prevents a dealer from providing its WFH customers with what they need in terms of the economic fulfillment of their orders.

    In this example citing 50,000 annual residential deliveries, a dealer would be fulfilling $2.8M of revenue that would otherwise be off-limits (think Amazon instead). Furthermore, $365,000 will be paid to local GIG workers for their services to support the new business, which, in turn, will represent a significant financial boost to the local economy. Finally, in terms of organizing the delivery of the routes to the GIG workers prepared to invest their time and capital to make the deliveries, that can be performed quite ably with some clever modifications to existing route planning software.

    Schedule a Demo of our Route Planning Software

     

    16. Deploying a Data Capture Agent Doesn’t Mean Dealers Must Reposition their Value Proposition to Managed Print Services

    The vast majority of businesses don’t meet the typical print volume thresholds required to merit investing the time and resources needed to prepare and execute a multi-year service contract.

    The Data Capture Agent has not typically been deployed into the customer base of independent office products dealers. Instead, it has remained the domain of print dealers, utilized as the technology that underpins the multi-year managed services contracts at the heart of their business model.

    A copier machine is usually at the foundation of a managed services contract, and copiers are usually sold by authorized dealerships set up by the major equipment manufacturers such as Canon, Xerox, Kyocera, Konica, etc. Selling copiers under managed services contracts, with cost-per-page billing models inclusive of service and repair, requires a core competency generally outside the skill set of a typical office products dealership. Because of these circumstances, it is not difficult to understand why there has been little interest to embrace IoT technology such as that enabled by the Data Capture Agent (DCA).

    We are advocates for office products dealers to deploy DCA technology, but this does not make us advocates for expecting them to try to learn how to sell managed service contracts. Selling managed services would require a fundamental change of direction for dealerships and entail far more than the strategy pivot we are explaining.

    Even if office products dealerships were to successfully acquire the skills needed to sell managed services, they would be entering a crowded market. 99.7% of businesses in the United States are classified as “small” businesses, i.e., less than 500 employees. How many of a dealership’s existing business customers even meet the qualification criteria for managed services? Let’s say the minimum threshold to make the selling expense worthwhile is 45 employees, ten machines, and/or 20,000 pages of print volume per month. How many of the typical office products dealerships’ customer profiles meet this threshold? Probably not many, and those that do are probably already under contract with one of the copier dealerships or original equipment manufacturers that supply their copier equipment. Ultimately, there is little chance an office products dealership would be successful in winning managed services contracts away from established managed services providers in those accounts where managed services make sense in the first place. Office Products dealerships have stayed away from Managed Services for good reason.

    Dealerships must recognize that making a decision to deploy Data Capture technology into its customer base does not make it neccessary, or desireable, to try and enter the highly specialized field of selling managed print service contracts.

    There are two important reasons why a dealership should consider deploying Data Capture technology in its customer base:

    1. To enhance its customer value proposition
    2. To reduce its customer churn (loss) rates and identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities

    And, to reiterate, there is one overriding objective not associated with deploying the DCA, and that is avoiding ANY expectation that this requires an entry into the Managed Print Services value proposition.

    For the dealer, the upside is going to be maximizing the revenue potential associated with each customer but, this goal falls short in terms of providing a reason for the customer to agree to install the Data Capture Agent onto its corporate network. The customer will only agree to install the DCA on the basis of the merits of its value to them, no other reason. So, explaining this value proposition becomes expertise the dealership must acquire in order to successfully deploy the DCA technology. The customer value associated with the DCA will be addressed later in this section after the dealership business case has been more fully explained.

    Once the upside of the DCA is understood by the dealership, it becomes possible to make a business decision with regards to the cost of deployment because the return on investment can be calculated.

    In Section 12 we already explained the upselling and cross-selling opportunities resulting from the business intelligence gathered from the DCA. Of course, it becomes a never-ending journey to realize the incremental sales potential but, the key takeaway here is that of positioning the dealership to leverage the business intelligence needed to identify those new sales opportunities. With our calculator, we have provided a means to quantify the upside potential, but now we must explain the costs associated with deploying the technology, as well as the cost (and tactics) for learning the skills needed to convince customers of the value of the technology to their businesses.

    There is a real cost associated with technology, the DCA is not free, so someone is faced with having to pay. Unfortunately, it won’t matter how much the dealer is able to dress up the value of the DCA proposition, it’s very unlikely their customers are going to pay for it. This means the dealer must incur the cost and, for this cost to be worthwhile, a return on the investment must be anticipated.

    Costs are going to be incurred from two sources:

    1. The cost per monitored (captured) device
    2. The human resource cost to deploy the DCA
      1. Training and incentivizing existing employees
      2. Paying an outsourced service for customer DCA deployments

    There are two cost elements and two possible strategies for implementation. First, there is going to be a cost per monitored device, let’s say this is going to be $0.25 per device per month. Second, there is going to be a deployment cost that can be incurred either via an “insource” approach or an “outsource” approach.

    1. The “Insource Deployment” approach. This would be where a dealership decided to move ahead with the DCA strategy and utilize internal sales resources for the implementation plan. This approach will require training individuals on how to overcome potential objections and incentivizing them to make the DCA deployment part of their sales routine.
    2. The “Outsource Deployment” approach. This would be where a dealership decided to move ahead with a DCA strategy utilizing outsourced services for calling customers and deploying the DCA. Typically, this arrangement would be carried out under a 2-year agreement with a 12-month break clause if a pre-agreed percentage of customers has not deployed and maintained the DCA on their network.

    The potential advantages of utilizing outsource services are:

    1. Leverage pre-existing deployment expertise needed for overcoming customer objections.
    2. Experience a faster take-up rate across the customer base.
    3. Benefit from faster upsell and cross-sell opportunities that result from quicker take-up of the DCA.

    In our model, we assumed a medium-sized dealer with 600 customers and $5M in annual sales with a calculated potential of 4,884 print devices dispersed across the customer base. Our goal is to get as many of those customers, and thereby the associated print devices under the umbrella of the DCA as quickly as possible. Once they are captured by the DCA, then attempts can be made to monetize the devices, for example, with ink, toner, paper, etc., and to monetize the related opportunities by cross-selling associated office and business products. It stands to reason, the quicker the DCA is deployed and the greater the overall percentage of devices captured, the greater the opportunities for upselling and cross-selling.

    The Insource Approach

    Leveraging DCA via Insource-1Approaching the task of deploying the Data Capture Agent by utilizing existing internal resources can result in lower costs and the perception of lower risk. The amount of risk is directly related to the expected skill level of the internal resources in terms of their ability to successfully deploy the DCA. If this can be accomplished at a similar rate to that expected by a skilled outsourcing team, then some costs can be saved. However, if the skills are inadequate then it will slow down the deployment and delay the opportunities to upsell and cross-sell additional products as devices are identified. In our example, utilizing internal resources, while less costly, assumes a slower take-up rate and therefore lower sales potential upside. In the event internal resources fail to acquire the skills to overcome potential customer objections to the DCA, then the entire initiative could go to waste.

    The Outsource Approach

    Leveraging DCA via Outsource-2

    The outsourcing approach will cost more but carries a lower risk of failure because the DCA will be deployed utilising resources trained in overcoming the customers’ potential objections. Typically, an engagement for services would cover a two-year term, with a breakpoint at 12 months that can be executed if the devices in the dealers’ customer hierarchy are captured below minimum contracted levels. After the two-year plan, the dealer may either continue with the DCA deployment services or terminate them and pay only for the number of print devices that continue to be monitored.

    Comparing the Insource and Outsource Approaches

    Comparison Insource Vs Outsource-3

    This comparison of the two approaches illustrates the financial impact of a slower take-up rate associated with the Insource versus Outsource approach. The Outsource Approach shows a faster implementation (60% of the potential printer population Vs. 34%) at the halfway point, plateaus at 80% Vs. 70%, and achieves 25% of the upsell opportunity Vs. 15%. This scenario shows the potential to achieve more than double the cumulative incremental sales revenue with the Outsource approach [$2.2M] versus the Insource [$975K] approach resulting in a monthly run rate of $220K Vs. $115K at the 24-month stage.

    The return on investment can be calculated as follows:

    Insource Approach:

    • Total Invested [100% variable based on the volume of print devices monitored]: $62K
    • Total Return (Gross Margin Dollars): $230K
    • ROI: 368%
    • Gross Margin per Device: $47.05 [based on 4,884 print devices / 70% captured]

    Outsource Approach:

    • Total Invested [blend of fixed and variable costs]: $108K
    • Total Return (Gross Margin Dollars: $546K
    • ROI: 502%
    • Gross Margin per Device: $111.79 [based on 4,884 print devices / 80% captured]

    The Customer-Facing Value Proposition

    We have established there is the potential for a substantial return on investment resulting from the successful deployment of the DCA. When the data captured is used intelligently and combined with all the marketing elements enabled by the digital platform explained throughout this pivot strategy, it is reasonable to expect the upselling and cross-selling potential to materialize.

    However, we must now shift focus to explain the front-facing customer value proposition because, without compelling reasons for the customer to agree to install the DCA on its corporate network, none of the potential dealer benefits can possibly be realized.

    Based on the scenarios we have modeled, whether a dealer selects the Insource or Outsource Approach, there is the potential for a substantial return on investment resulting from higher sales through increased market share. This potential should provide the dealer with a strong incentive to implement the DCA strategy, knowing the “make or break” element is obtaining customer consent for the DCA software install. Like most things worth having, it’s not easy, if it was, everyone would already be doing it.

    The primary recommended tactic for overcoming potential customer objections to install the DCA is to highlight the common enemy (online behemoths such as Amazon) and then appeal for a collaborative effort to defeat that enemy. When this appeal is combined with the tangible customer benefits that result from the DCA installation, then we have created a win-win scenario for the customer as well as the dealer. Most local businesses recognize the community benefits from doing business with local businesses, but almost no one will do business locally if there is a service or value proposition deficiency between a local, and a giant national business. Amazon has created a brand and a portal where almost anything can be purchased at competitive prices, and an infrastructure that ensures orders are fulfilled with an efficiency that was unthinkable little more than a decade ago.

    In adopting the digital platform we have described, the independent dealer in the local market has technology similar in capabilities to everything the online behemoths routinely utilize. However, in addition, the local dealership has the advantage of its local brand, its local presence, and its willingness to pick up the phone and actually talk and visit with its customers. The technology and the local presence combine to establish a competitive advantage.

    The collaborative aspect of the initiative for deploying the DCA comes into play with the dealers’ appeal for help from its customers and prospects. The help must come in the form of sharing innocuous and otherwise wasted, printing device data via the DCA. In getting that help, the dealer becomes empowered to elevate its value proposition beyond anything Amazon and other online behemoths are able to offer. The data that’s captured is converted into actionable business intelligence that competitors do not have access to and serves to underlie the improvement in the dealer’s value proposition that’s necessary to compete with the online giants. This improvement means more local business decision-makers will be prepared to follow their instincts and support other businesses within their community because the deficiency in the value proposition has been eliminated.

    The Value Proposition - Convincing a Customer to Install DCA

    To view content examples for how a dealership can introduce the DCA approach to its audience and then work to take them along the journey towards a successful adoption, please view the following page links.

    Building Awareness and Educating an Audience (Blog Style Content)

    Developing Awareness and Establishing Consideration for a Future Sale (Landing Page Style Content)

    Closing the Deal (Demos and Webinars)

    • Webinar/Video (to be added at a future date)

     

    17. eCommerce, Automation, and Fulfillment.

    Most office products dealers already have an eCommerce portal, the problem is they have little to no traffic, so it fails to perform a meaningful role either for transactions or new customer acquisitions.

    The typical office products dealer offers a wide array of office and business products and relies heavily on wholesalers (SP Richards and Essendant) for sales order processing and fulfillment. It is not easy to present and maintain 50-60,000 items in a dynamic online environment, especially when dealers’ are usually operating on legacy ERP systems and juggling multiple applications for pricing, catalog management, marketing, order processing, and fulfillment.

    Some dealerships have done well to encourage customers to use their eCommerce portals for placing orders, others not so well. A few dealers may have as many as 70% of their orders entered online, but the majority have far less. In case there’s any misconception, let’s be clear about this, it is not end-consumer (B2C) eCommerce we’re talking about here, it is 99.9% business (B2B) commerce.

    Many dealers are nervous about pushing their customers to use their eCommerce portals for entering their orders. Search can be a frustrating experience and customers who can’t quickly find what they are looking for, or are confused by an endless stream of search results, will quickly give up and look elsewhere, i.e., Amazon, for what they want. Understandably, dealers are prepared to perform this task on behalf of their customers, rather than risk losing a sale because the customer doesn’t have sufficient knowledge to select a product from the catalog search results. Pre-populated “wish lists” can help overcome the potential for customer confusion but, generally speaking, it seems important to take steps that improve their customer’s online experience. Only then can it become realistic to expect dealers to have sufficient confidence in their eCommerce portal, to push customers to independently use it.

    In this section, we are going to introduce a variety of dealer strategies for eCommerce that are designed to improve the customer experience, and thereby help overcome the dealers’ lingering concerns related to customers acting independently on their websites.

    First and foremost, it is important to understand that the wholesale distribution model is critical for the future success of independent dealerships. With tens of thousands of products in the typical dealers’ catalog, it is not possible for them to be stocked, which explains why most dealers, even on their “A” items, adopted the “stockless” model many years ago. The continued concept of overnight deliveries from the wholesalers’ local distribution center for current day orders, followed by dealer-managed local delivery routes to handle the last mile the next day, is integral to the dealer’s future.

    However, what is also integral to the future, is that the wholesalers must fully recognize their own success is tied to the success of their dealers. Unfortunately, over time, and for a variety of reasons, the dealers have experienced an increasing number of constraints that have caused them to become less successful. This has led the wholesalers to try and provide more “soft” services outside their core competencies, such as product search, pricing, and marketing tools, to try and improve their dealers’ performance. These initiatives have not worked because they have failed to address the root cause of the dealer constraints.

    The dealers’ constraints:

    1. What the dealer is able to offer for sale is largely dictated by its legacy ERP system and the two national wholesalers, Essendant and SP Richards.
    2. Search results on the dealers’ storefront are 100% biased to the wholesalers’ product offering.
    3. The wholesalers have:
      1. A legacy mindset towards annual product cycles based around manufacturer catalog reviews that delay new product introductions and stifle dealer opportunities in rapidly changing market conditions.
      2. A prevailing attitude that pays lip service to dealers by stating “they will inventory products the dealer has a demand for” while ignoring the irony of the statement in light of the fact that demand for a new product, or line, cannot be created without it being part of the wholesaler’s catalog in the first place.
    4. Dealers who react by shoehorning non-wholesaler products into their platform:
      1. Know those products will not appear in search results.
      2. Cannot price them using available tools.
    5. Dealers usually don’t have the skills or technology to conduct their own marketing, so the wholesaler concocts an annual “allowance” or “program” and offers to do it for them. While good in theory, in practice these marketing efforts have fatal flaws that limit their effectiveness:
      1. They make no account for the three stages of the typical buyer’s journey – awareness, consideration, and decision.
      2. They make no account for what the contact receiving email marketing collateral may actually be interested in.
      3. Are likely to be biased toward the products the wholesaler wants to promote (think excess inventory and wholesaler profit objectives) rather than what the dealers’ customers may actually want at the time.

    For dealers to be successful in the rapidly changing business environment, these constraints must be eliminated. Applying Band-Aids to try and help resolve peripheral issues is inadequate and will fail to address these fundamental constraints that hold the dealers back.

    Eliminating the constraints:

    1. Adopt a platform (ERP) that allows the dealership to consolidate its product offering into a single eCommerce portal.
    2. Recognize the initiative in today’s market must be focused on B2B because B2C (Amazon) is currently out of reach.
    3. Provide technology that allows dealerships to take full control of their product offering by selecting vendors and product categories according to their local market opportunities.
    4. Eliminate the current biased toward wholesaler-motivated search results.
    5. Provision of technology tools designed for pricing a catalog independently of the wholesaler partner(s) that underlies the dealers’ product offering.
    6. Provide a best-in-class marketing and technology platform that allows dealers’ to conduct marketing according to best practices by sending the right material, to the right person, at the right time.

    Probably the single most important constraint to eliminate, which then allows the other constraints to fall away, is the adoption of a technology platform that allows the dealership to consolidate its offering into a single portal. In so doing, the dealer becomes empowered to decide which product categories, and products, it offers to its customers. While SP Richards and Essendant are the only two wholesalers currently serving the office products dealerships, they are certainly not the only two national wholesalers with an infrastructure suited to handle the order fulfillment expectations of today’s typical customer.

    Instead of thinking about the dealerships’ offering solely in the context of Essendant’s and SP Richards offering, start to think about it in the context of a much broader range of products. Dealerships have already proved they can expand their capabilities in terms of product categories, as shown by the successful addition of breakroom supplies, janitorial and sanitation, etc., over the last decade or so. The problem, historically, is they have been constrained from doing so until Essendant or SP Richards got behind a new category and added it to their distribution platform.

    Amazon started out with books and now offers more than 12 million products. Part of a dealerships’ foreseeable future means, like it or not, they will continue to be competing with Amazon but, in being limited to 60,000 products, they will experience an ongoing competitive disadvantage. To overcome this, it’s important to change the mindset and to start to think of each independent dealership as one of the thousands of “mini-Amazon’s”, each with a much broader product offering to the one they currently provide. If Essendant and SP Richards can’t, or won’t, expand their product offerings, then dealerships must embrace other wholesalers with similar fulfillment capabilities who can and will. Only at this point will the irony of the current duopolistic mindset be forced home as dealers demonstrate they can, in fact, create a demand for new categories of products. However, in so doing, they will place both Essendant and SP Richards in the unenviable position of having to add products to their offering after the dealerships have first, established a demand, and second (necessarily), established satisfactory alternative sources of supply. This, of course, will be too late for both of them, reinforcing why it was such an arrogant, self-serving, and self-limiting philosophy to have adopted in the first place.

    The Pivot

    To stand a better chance of success offering a broader range of products and services, independent dealers must improve their current value proposition. Without improvement, it will limit their chances of being seriously considered by their customers and prospects as a supplier for a wider range of products. The required improvement necessitates a pivot to their currently transaction-focused business model, a pivot that is enabled by deploying the Data Capture Agent and providing other integrated services that will encourage customers to adopt the 2CLIXZ mobile App. Adopting these technologies will also serve to become the gateway for helping to determine which new product categories it makes sense for dealers to add to their existing offering.

    The Steps Required for Developing an Omnichannel Presence

    Developing an Omnichannel Presence

     

    Potential New Product Categories

    As explained in Section 15, the Data Capture Agent is the foundation that underlies the value proposition improvement. Essentially, it offers significant value for the customer (click this link for the value proposition) while also underpinning the supply of data needed to help dealers’ capture revenue off all the customers’ print and copier devices. It also, simultaneously, helps develop other intelligence needed to quantify incremental selling opportunities that surround those print devices. In deploying the DCA, significant customer value-adds associated with the dealers’ overall technology platform, which include the website, the eCommerce portal, and the 2CLIXZ mobile App, will become apparent. These include:

    Customer Benefits from DCA

    What could all this add up to in terms of sales potential?

    Every dealer and each market they sell into is different, although there are inevitably many commonalities between them. It is impossible to develop a meaningful model that accounts for all the variables between different dealerships, one, because we don’t know all the variables, and two, because it would introduce enormous complexity, and still be unlikely to alter the general outcome we expect dealers to experience from deploying the technology and the tactics we have explained.

    To help illustrate the sales opportunity created by leveraging the technology and executing the tactics we have described, we have built a model to show incremental sales that could be developed over a 5-year time frame. Please note, the model has been designed to illustrate the potential, not necessarily predict the outcome. Predicting the outcome will only become possible after a dealership has started to deploy the DCA and the 2CLIXZ mobile App, and the degree of penetration into the customer base becomes known. The default model assumes 50% penetration over the 5-year time frame. Some dealers may do better, and others worse.

    The assumptions underlying the default model are as follows:

    Dealer Profile:

    • $5 Million TTM sales
    • 600 customers
    • Avg. number of employees per customer: 35

    Market Profile:

    • B2B
      • One print device for every 4.3 employees
      • Average supplies revenue per year per print device = $750
    • B2B Work From Home – [WFH]
      • Customer Employees (WFH) – 100% have a print device at the remote location
      • Average supplies revenue per year per home print device = $250
    • B2C
      • Average family size = 4 persons
      • Average potential spend per family member per year = $250

    The key element of the strategy is to successfully deploy the DCA although, even after 5 years of deployment efforts, it is unlikely any dealers will capture 100% of their customer base. However, despite this, the model still illustrates there is an enormous upside to the strategy, even by only capturing a fraction of the total.

    The Three Sales Channels

    Experiment with the embedded calculator below, using the sliders to enter your numbers. You will see that the greater the percentage penetration of the DCA into your customer base, the greater the future sales potential that is opened up.

     


     

    Executing the strategy we have explained is contingent on successfully achieving two key initiatives.

    1. Installing the Data Capture Agent (DCA) throughout the customer base
    2. Establishing Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to capture Remote Workers (WFH)

    Many dealers may lack the skills to achieve these two objectives. There are two options to overcome this deficiency, one, learn the skills, or two, leverage an external call center that has already developed them.

    As the DCA is deployed and the VPNs are established, the 2CLIXZ App should emerge as a natural addon that customers can quickly associate with value and start to adopt, free, for the purposes of improving internal and external communications. It is expected that other, far more expansive uses of the App will quickly become apparent to both the dealership’s leading the initiative to place it on the mobile devices of their customer’s employee’s, and later, also to the businesses that adopted it for free, and then start to see how it can help them build a community of networked businesses they can trade amongst without Amazon and Google being a factor in the mix.

    OP Dealer Strategy Breakpoints and Failure

    The key to initiating the strategy is to start to deploy the Data Capture Agent (DCA) and, in parallel introduce the 2CLIXZ mobile App for the purposes of eliminating customer-to-supplier friction points. Success in Phase 1 lays the foundation for expanding the scope of the App based value proposition in phase 2 and facilitates the introduction of budget control and a broader class of asset management.

    In Phase 3, the VPN strategy will become the stepping stone into the B2C channel providing both the opportunity to monetize the remote printing devices as well as obtain more users on the 2CLIXZ App. As the B2C contact list develops, then the possibilities to add additional product lines suitable for the channel become apparent. Additional products will help increase the average transaction value and help to amortize the additional distribution and logistics costs associated with serving hundreds of additional delivery locations.

    Many of the additional B2C contacts captured in Phase 3 & 4 will be employed by other businesses located within the local communities and will be invaluable in terms of spreading the word to increase the numbers of businesses signing up for the network that will expand exponentially in Phase 5.

     

    OP Dealer and phased approach

    As the adoption of 2clixz gathers momentum, additional opportunities will develop for building substantial networks of businesses and individuals. Reaching phase 5 represents the end goal in terms of truly transforming a business to operate in the digital world and to position it, along with many others in its local community, to compete effectively with the behemoths that will otherwise continue to dominate both the internet traffic and commerce at large.

    18. Leveraging the Viral Potential of the 2CLIXZ Mobile App

    Amazon has developed into an existential threat for many small businesses so, the end game of the strategy presented here is to provide a solution designed to protect them from that threat. 2CLIXZ is the final piece of the puzzle needed to help them to accomplish that goal.

    Introducing the 2CLIXZ mobile App to the dealers’ customer base should not be expected to encounter significant resistance. The reason is simple: For the dealers’ customers, the initial uses of the App are free and bring many benefits in terms of eliminating breakpoints in communications between employees, managers, vendors, and service providers. From the end customer’s perspective, there is nothing to lose by adopting the App.

    In Section 14, we already introduced reasons why the dealers’ customers may adopt free 2CLIXZ for communications improvements. We also briefly introduced the concept of leveraging the App to build a digital network of local businesses.

    We will now focus on the digital network of local businesses because this is the element associated with the potential for viral adoption. The network increases the dealers’ contact database and connects each dealership with businesses that may easily do business with each other.

    For dealers with limited contact databases, it is very difficult to use email as the starting point for developing relevant web traffic. Building a contact database using proven inbound marketing tactics is a lengthy process because it relies on visit to lead conversions taking place on a website. If there are only a small number of visits, there will only ever be a tiny number of conversions. Therefore, pro-actively building a network of devices and businesses will be a far quicker way to develop a sizeable and relevant contact database.

    The key to opening up the potential for viral adoption is to provide smaller businesses with access to a technology platform that facilitates their online proposition. This must be accomplished using a system within their technical capability and available time resources for setup and maintenance. It is one thing to require a small business to have the capabilities and time to set up an eCommerce presence on Shopify, BigCommerce, or similar, and it is entirely another to know someone can successfully upload a simple spreadsheet via a web-based user interface and to be online and ready for business by the next morning.

    This fundamental difference in simplicity creates the possibility for viral adoption. Most entrepreneurs and small business owners are not tech-savvy. Populating Shopify (for example) with a product offering requires skills beyond the typical level of available expertise, which precludes this level of technology as a viable option. It doesn’t matter if business owners and operators already recognize their lack of online presence is holding them back because if their options to try and overcome them are either too expensive or too complicated, they were never viable options in the first place.

    OP Dealer 2CLIXZ Viral Potential

    However, while simplicity of setup is a key requirement for viral potential, it will not be sufficient on its own. The other three key components affecting adoption rates will be how useful it is, how much it costs, and how rapidly potential users become aware of it.

    • Usefulness – it doesn’t matter how simple an App is to set up; if it’s not useful, there will be no interest in setting it up in the first place.
    • Simplicity – once a potential user has determined the App could be useful, they will focus on the simplicity of the setup.
    • Cost – if the potential user deems the App useful and determines its usefulness justifies the time it will take to set up and get started, the user will decide if additional App features they are interested in warrant a payment decision.
    • Awareness – takeup of every new App always has a starting point. The more dealers introduce and explain the App’s benefits in print device management, the more awareness is developed.

    Usefulness:

    So, the first hurdle to overcome is to demonstrate and explain the usefulness of the 2CLIXZ App. The key to accomplishing this is demonstrating its potential for overcoming a problem a large group is experiencing. As we know, a significant and common problem for small businesses is their lack of an online presence, minimal web traffic, and the threat to their business that comes from Amazon and other online behemoths. It is reasonable to expect that a solution to problems of this scale, experienced by millions of businesses worldwide, would be considered helpful by a sufficiently large enough group to provide the potential for widespread adoption on a viral scale.

    2CLIXZ, combined with the other technology elements that make up the platform, and when deployed in conjunction with the DCA and VPN strategy, provides small businesses with the solution they need for overcoming the Amazon problem. This means the App passes the requirement for USEFULNESS.

    Simplicity:

    The second requirement is for the setup to be simple to avoid specialist training or user skills.

    2CLIXZ Shop Simple Setup

    A web browser user interface is provided to make the store setup an intuitive and straightforward process. Individuals with basic computer skills, such as those necessary for working at an intermediate level in Word and Excel (or their Android or Apple equivalents), will be comfortable with the process. Building an Excel import file from a provided template is usually the quickest and most efficient approach for getting started. The items immediately become available in the “blue” 2CLIXZ App as the store is set up. Other users can then conduct credit card purchases via the integrated Stripe payment gateway. Once the bulk of the store setup is completed, authorized users can fine-tune and modify store settings using the “green” version of the App on any mobile device or continue using the browser interface.

    Because there is no requirement for specialist skills, it is possible for anyone with an intermediate level of computing skills and capable of working in applications like Excel and Word, to build the store. This means the App passes the requirement for SIMPLICITY.

    Cost:

    Having met the required standards for usefulness and simplicity, we must now address the question of a user’s cost. A 2CLIXZ store has a straightforward pricing structure.

    • Monthly fixed store fee: $29.99 per month
    • Transaction Fee: 1.5% of sales

    The only other charge is the fee levied by the payment processor. This is typically in the range of 2-3% of the total transaction amount and is currently an unavoidable cost of doing business with a credit card.

    Compare these fees to those charged, for example, to merchants operating in the Amazon or Facebook marketplaces, where the platform operator deducts 15-25% (or more) of the transaction value.

    Because the charges for using and transacting on the 2CLIXZ App are an order of magnitude [65-80%] less than the charges levied on merchants by the most popular shopping portals such as Amazon and Facebook, it means the 2CLIXZ App passes the requirement for an acceptable user COST.

    Awareness:

    Dealers who embrace the strategy also embrace its underlying technology, including the DCA and the 2CLIXZ mobile App. So, it becomes incumbent on the dealers to raise awareness for the App with their customers. User adoption should not encounter significant resistance if the usefulness, simplicity, and cost thresholds are met because the App launch features are free. Only after users have become familiar with the App and recognize the availability and potential associated with other value-adds, is there a requirement to pay.

    We are confident that the 2CLIXZ App meets viral potential’s usefulness, simplicity, and cost thresholds. However, dealers will still need to raise the level of awareness for adoption to take place. So, we will now look at some of the expected benefits for businesses that join the 2CLIXZ digital network. Assuming dealers can develop awareness, the potential for realizing these benefits will ultimately drive the user adoption rates, thereby dictating whether or not the App becomes a viral success.

    Business Network Member Benefits

    As previously explained, the model for smaller enterprises trying to improve their online presence is to create a content-rich website, focus on optimizing the site for search, build powerful backlinks, manage and maintain 50-60 local listing sites, build a relevant social media audience, and post relevant content at least three times a week. Even this massive effort (way beyond almost every small business’s resources and capabilities) won’t be enough, so payments must be made to Google for ads and Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, etc., to boost social posts. Even then, the chances of generating meaningful volumes of relevant traffic are small. Over the last two decades, the evolved system has been geared toward extracting money in return for the usually failed promise of relevant traffic. When this doesn’t occur as anticipated, in steps another group of “experts” to tell you what you are doing wrong and explain how they will fix it in return for the payment of even more money.

    Businesses that have been through this cycle and largely abandoned their efforts (because, on their own, they are futile and doomed to fail) may turn to marketplaces such as Amazon. Amazon doesn’t have a traffic problem; they get 100 million site visits per month. The idea is that by establishing a store in their marketplace, you will get business without having to overcome the traffic conundrum. However, there are several problems with this thinking:

    1. Amazon owns all the customers.
    2. The fees are extraordinarily high (25% of sales).
    3. The pricing algorithms force merchants into a downward spiral, thereby reducing profit.
    4. Amazon controls the “Buy-Box” and strongly influences how orders are allocated to merchants.

    The relatively small number of merchants who have built a significant business in the Amazon marketplace have overcome enormous challenges to do so. In short, they have become marketplace experts with similar skills to those a small group of elite experts has developed as they learned ways to make a profit in the open market despite having to pay Google, Bing, Facebook, and others large sums of money to obtain traffic. However, these skills needed to succeed in or out of the Amazon marketplace are highly specialized, expensive, and unavailable to the vast majority of smaller businesses.

    In summary, dealers are faced with the following options:

    1. Do nothing and continue selling with obsolete “analog” tactics, gradually losing customers to Amazon and other online behemoths.
    2. Enter a third-party marketplace and have the owner extract a disproportionate share of the profits while “owning” the customers.
    3. Continue to hit against a brick wall attempting to develop sufficient organic traffic to compete effectively with the online behemoths.
    4. Adopt a different approach, start developing a business network using the 2CLIXZ App and sidestep these issues.

    What we’re attempting to convey here is that viable options are limited. Options one, two, and three will not work for the vast majority of smaller businesses. While there may be competitive alternatives to number four, we are not knowledgeable about whether they exist, how expansive they are, or how well-suited they may be to the office products industry.

    So, we have integrated the industry-specific technology, developed a strategy that requires a dealer to pivot rather than reinvent itself, and bundled this offering into an affordable package. We showed the two breakpoints in Section 16 as (1) failure to deploy the DCA and (2) failure to establish the VPNs. For the forward-thinking dealer who takes the time to understand all the benefits of the technology and the strategy, and who is determined to take advantage of the enormous potential resulting from the development of a local business network, then failing to build that network becomes the third, and final, breakpoint that would prevent that goal from being accomplished.

    OP Dealer Strategy Breakpoints and Failure_2

    This image is also intended to convey how these three components lie at the core of the strategy. While we recognize this is a lengthy paper with detailed content that some may find overwhelming, it all boils down to these three initiatives that leadership attention must focus on for the successful execution of the plan.

    For a dealer’s existing customers;

    1. Start the deployment of the Data Capture Agent (DCA).
    2. Start deploying Virtual Private Networks.
    3. Start building your network of connected businesses on 2CLIXZ.

    Leveraging Sales Channels for Developing Business Network

    Remember, customers will first see 2CLIXZ in parallel with the DCA, so circling back to raise awareness for a follow-on initiative designed to establish a business network that benefits the local community should not be a big ask of customers’ whose own businesses combine to make up that community.

    Some dealers will already have the personnel capable of “selling” these three initiatives to their customers. Others may not. Those who don’t or don’t believe they can acquire them within an acceptable time frame should look at the economics of utilizing a call center skilled in explaining the customer benefits, overcoming potential objections, and achieving the necessary customer penetration.

    The Business Development Flywheel

    The Business Development Flywheel is now associated with strategies to eliminate friction points between customers and suppliers, facilitating greater business volumes between them. In our context, we are applying it to both:

    1. The elimination of customer friction points to facilitate improvements in communications between customers and suppliers, and;
    2. The elimination of friction points that currently impede smaller businesses from developing their online presence.

    Not only will independent office and business product dealerships position themselves for financial improvement, but hundreds or even thousands of other businesses that underlie the core of every local business community, will also become empowered to do so. To recap;

    1. In terms of business development, sales, and profits, starting with the DCA deployment, the dealer generates incremental possibilities for additional sales by discovering print devices on a customer network and then working toward monetizing them. [As explained in Section 12].
    2. Then, establishing VPNs for customers who expect to continue to allow a higher level of remote working opens even more sales opportunities by identifying the print devices in remote locations.
    3. Finally, by promoting additional 2CLIXZ features designed to help businesses with asset management, purchasing control, etc., the dealer helps accelerate 2CLIXZ adoption, thereby priming the pump for the development of the local business network.

    As these three initiatives gain traction, each feeds off the other, and the overall process gains momentum, developing into a free-spinning virtuous cycle of its own. Most importantly, this is a virtuous cycle that Amazon, Google, Facebook, Bing, Yelp, Yellow Pages, etc., have no part in, cannot interfere with, and cannot extract any of the participating business owners’ hard-earned profits.

     

    19. The Digital Compensation Plan Needed to Make it Happen

    The goals a sales team pursues are dictated by the incentives built into their compensation plans. However, the goals necessary to be successful in the new digital world are very different from the goals being driven by legacy compensation plans most businesses continue to offer their sales team.

    The top-line sales number is still important but the tactics necessary to achieve it have changed significantly. Because of this, it’s no longer effective to concentrate the incentives for compensating a sales team solely on the top-line. It has become necessary to adjust the incentives and to compensate for achieving the objectives that enable the top-line goals to be achieved.

    This paper has covered a lot of ground, but the consistent theme of the material has remained focused on the subject of developing an online presence and strategies for building a network of things (physical assets), people, and businesses for the purposes of increasing sales and profits of a print dealer. In order to accomplish this, the sales team must perform a series of vital tasks, and to motivate them to do so, they must be provided with incentives. The bottom line, their existing compensation plan must change because unless their compensation is aligned with the critical objectives, those objectives will not be achieved.

    The individual elements we have covered that are fundamental with regards to raising the online profile for a business consist of the following:

    Digital Compensation Elements

    It should be clear from our narrative that achieving pre-set goals for each of the elements listed above will have an important bearing on the outcome of a print dealers’ efforts to widen the scope of or to pivot the direction of, its current value proposition. In fact, success will be dependent on achieving targets and goals assigned for each of these elements.

    1. Every print device that is successfully captured under the umbrella of a data collection agent, has potential in terms of revenue and profits. The more printers captured and the higher the percentage of those devices that are monetized, then the greater the revenue and profits will be for the print dealer. In order to minimize the timeframe to capture these devices and to monetize them, the salespeople responsible for the accounts the print devices are located at will accomplish their goals more quickly if they receive monetary compensation for doing so. Please click this link for access to a dealer example showing $1.6M of current supplies monetization and the path to realizing a 4X increase to $6M+ in supplies revenue.
    2. We have written at length about raising the online profile of the print dealer. Raising the profile mandates the need for an audience, and the larger the audience the greater the potential that is developed for raising the profile. There is no value in building an audience for the sake of the numbers because they will not engage with any of the content that the print dealer may distribute for the purposes of promoting its value proposition. The print dealer sales teams must be instrumental in terms of building the social and the email audience, but the audience development must be accomplished in a manner that results in a relevant audience. Again, the only way to successfully accomplish this goal is to assign targets to each of the members of the sales team and to compensate them for their achievements in hitting their goals.

    The key to success with an alternative sales compensation plan is balance. Typically, with a conventional plan, there is a base salary and there is an incentive component that is based on achieving a sales quota geared to top-line sales and/or gross margin. What we are advocating is the introduction of an additional element to the plan that is designed to incentivize members of the sales team to achieve a selection of critical digital goals. Of course, a change like this will affect the balance of the conventional compensation plan but a “digital” plan should still include a portion that compensates for achieving the top-line objectives.

    Use this link to access an interactive Digital Compensation Plan Calculator

     

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    Independent resellers in the office equipment and products channels face revenue losses of 35% or more over the next 4-years as market-shrink, price compression, and customer churn eat away the top line. A close look at analog vs digital tactics and strategy is necessary to turn the trend around.
    As a budgeting exercise will show, the cost for a small business to execute a go-it-alone digital transformation strategy is usually the roadblock that prevents starting one in the first place. Learn more about the one-off costs and options for reducing the cost and mitigating the execution risk.
    The path to improving the future outlook for office products and equipment dealerships and achieve digital business transformations is challenging. The current digital status is poor and, without improvements, the outlook for long-term survival is bleak!
    Digital marketing for small businesses is an opportunity for establishing a competitive advantage in local markets and can start to build a significant enterprise value that’s usually associated with the development of sustainable, cost-effective, and relevant web traffic.
    Independent office products and business equipment resellers’ social audience development efforts have largely stalled because owners don’t have a plan to realize the financial benefits of leveraging an audience to improve their online visibility and website traffic generation efforts.
    There’s a quantitative side to web-traffic development and then there’s an artistic side that revolves around the creation of content. Without useful, relevant content there will be no web traffic and therefore there will be no audience engagement. Learn more about audience engagement tactics.
    The complexity and the volume of work for resellers to execute a digital transformation are significant. Often, these are the reasons most of them have failed to start down the path but, when broken down into a series of smaller tasks, it becomes possible to develop a set of realistic digital performance goals.
    Many independent resellers ask why social media? Not all social media platforms are equal and some are more intuitive than others. With Twitter being littered with hundreds of dormant office products and business equipment reseller accounts, we assess its potential role.
    When combining information technology and inbound digital marketing alongside conventional sales tactics with a personal presence in local markets, it can improve small business online visibility and help establish the foundation for digital business transformations.
    Many office products and business equipment resellers don’t know where to start for a digital transformation. However, implementing sales compensation plans to motivate stakeholders in the area of audience development and web traffic are key! Learn more about ways to create digital comp plans.
    Office products and equipment resellers face a dilemma to implement a digital solution for executing their digital business transformations while competitors already on the path are building sustainable competitive advantages. Learn more about building a foundation for a transformation.
    Office Products and Supplies resellers cannot survive if they continue to use analog technology in a digital world. Learn more about the use of technology to support a compelling value proposition and the path to a digital business transformation.

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