Konica Minolta Where OPS Optimizes MPS

Managed Print Services Connect (Jan 24 2012) Workflow

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   Taking Care of the Dealer Channel =  Success For All Channels.

   Konica Minolta's Inspire Customer Passion conference presented a strong statement of the company's aggressive commitment to growth, success and happiness for their dealer network.

   This was a high-class event attended by over 1100 dealer representatives at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. But, it was obvious from the moment the event began Sunday evening that the conference was 100% about business: how to grow it, enhance it and prepare for more of it.

   Dealer Delight?

   Since this event was for the Konica Minolta Business Solutions dealers, it presented an opportunity to gauge how well the dealer channel problems  of 4 years ago had been repaired.  As such, we spent a considerable amount of time asking dealer representatives in sales, service, management and ownership positions for their opinion of the current environment. What we heard was very positive.

   The dealers expressed appreciation for Konica Minolta’s efforts to enhance their business opportunities through new products and partnerships. But, the most important thing we kept hearing was their recognition of Konica Minolta’s commitment over the past few years to the dealer channel. The dramatic improvement of the dealer partnership environment was repeatedly attributed to the leadership of Konica Minolta’s Alan Nielsen, Executive VP Dealer Sales, and Rick Taylor, President and COO, both of who joined the company in 2008.

   

   At the conference’s first event, we asked Alan Nielsen how he would determine the conference to be successful.  Alan’s reply was very simple, “that the Dealers would know that Konica Minolta was their best partner option”. 

   Based on what we heard from our dealer discussions, Alan’s success measurement seemed to have been met. But in business it’s the numbers that best measure success. So let look at the numbers.

   $20.6 million - $20,600,000

   As we said prior, the true measurement of success is in the numbers. So here are the numbers: 

   • 48% of Konica Minolta Business Solutions’ revenue came from the dealer channel last year; 
   • Dealer sales increased by 25% across all product areas during the past year;
   • Management set  goal of $10 million in sales to dealers during the event;
   • The final tally was $20.6 million – over twice the goal in what many call a “down economy”!  

    

   Our conclusion: The two critical measurements - the speak and the numbers – both presented strong evidence that Alan’s success measurement, “that the Dealers would know that Konica Minolta was their best partner option” was met.

   If you are a dealer for Konica Minolta, let us know if you agree or disagree in the Comments Section below.

   

   Media Q&A with Konica Minolta Management

   The Technology Showcase

   The conference's Product Expo conference was an education and demonstration showcase for Konica Minolta and their partners. New and improved multi-function printer technology was displayed in abundance. In addition, Konica Minolta’s focus on vertical applications was demonstrated in various sections of the technology and partner sections of the showcase floor.

   

   Managed IT Services & Production Print

   The biggest technology buzz seemed to be around the new opportunities Konica Minolta was introducing in production print and managed IT services. The dealers expressed  that the new production print and managed IT revenue opportunities would allow them to  increase revenue even more than 25% overall growth they achieved over the past year.

   The dealers we spoke with were very interested adding managed IT services to their client offerings which are now available to them in a low cost of entry platform from All Covered, which was recently acquired by Konica Minolta. This new managed IT services offering seemed to be a good fit with Konica Minolta’s Optimized Print Services brand. They describe OPS as optimizing versus just managing print. The new IT service offering enhances print optimization capability while also increasing the foot print of the dealer in their key accounts. Both are very good for the dealer.

   Konica Minolta sees a growing opportunity in commercial print. They have been adding new high volume, high density color and black and white printers and hiring production print specialist to train the dealers and support their pre and post sales efforts.

   We must admit that as previous owners of production print facilities, we had never considered Konica Minolta a serious player in that space. But, after this conference, we are now well aware that Konica Minolta is serious about and is becoming a major player in production print.

   A more detailed report of our production print impressions at the conference is posted on OutputLinks as that is the site the reports on the high volume production and transaction print ecosphere.

   In Closing

   We found the Inspire Customer Passion conference to be a great gathering of business people focused on moving ahead of the competition and finding ways to better serve their customers - regardless of the economy.

   We look forward to following Konica Minolta over the coming months to monitor their and their dealers’ 2012 progress.. 

   ·        We invite you to share your views on our report or on your Konica Minolta experience in the Comments Sections below. 

   ·        You can also use the social media icons to follow us.

    

   To great business,
   Andy & Julie Plata
   Co-CEO's, OutputLinks Communications Group

    

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