RiKON… The Next Generation…

It sounds a bit like an old Star Trek episode but really this is my life. With all of the instability in the world what could happen that would bring all the stars into alignment, fix the global economy and solve world hunger? How about Ricoh making a play for the largest independent distributor of office products and solutions maybe? Ok maybe not… So you think that you had it all figured out huh, Konica Minolta buys Danka, Xerox buys Global. And maybe since IKON was almost a billion dollars of Canon's yearly equipment revenue that they would forsake the path that they followed with Global Imaging and Danka; well you were wrong! I can remember it like it was yesterday, "No Canon will never cut IKON off, that is ludicrous." Much to IKON's and Ricoh's dismay, Canon did pull the plug and sent Ricoh (the father of a brand new baby) reeling looking for a new horse to ride for the high end color and black and white portion of IKON's production portfolio (a 25% share of IKON's revenue). Watching this unravel (from the inside) was enough to send you to the doctor looking for a well deserved prescription of Xanex. Well thank goodness for Ricoh's Kodak relationship now we can all rest easy right?


In a playing field that is less than well defined it is funny where new bed partners come from. Just picking up Kodak sounds good but is not that easy to implement especially over night. Kodak is a very high end and expensive digital press not just in up front acquisition costs but also in day to day operating costs not to mention that it requires a much more skilled operator to run and make repairs. IKON with all of its production experience isn't going to jump in and start doing service on the NexPRESS and service is where it is at in the business model of the office equipment world. So now what? Hmm, well maybe the new Hitachi technology that they have buried into their new flagship product the Ricoh Pro C900 (Digital Press, Production Copier – What do I call it?) will be enough to stave off the bitter reveling of Canon. Either way just putting the Kodak label on portfolio brochures is not going to stop the bleeding. Especially when you have cut a main artery like in the case of IKON and Canon. IKON sold about 60% Canon products in a very well defined market place where over the last years IKON went around buying up successful dealerships that were primarily Canon in nature.


So now the acquisition is over and we approach the first milestone. What is that you say? Well since you asked it is the beginning of Ricoh's new fiscal year of course. Here comes 2009 fast and furious. So what is in store for IKON in this broad new world of opportunity? Will they remain ran as an independent subsidiary? Will they get quickly absorbed into the belly of the beast? With the changing of the guard from a political standpoint and the evolution of our economy it is anyone's guess. As companies draw lines in the sand and build alliances with other competitors either by acquisition or by contract we start to see the battle grounds becoming more defined. Now that the great expansion is over and we see the number of competitors collapse into a 3 or 4 player race; we now are starting to see the mystery unfold.


The new mission of RiKON is to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations. In my humble opinion this new world of RiKON is very well positioned for the midterm play. Why midterm you ask? Because RiKON is a large organization and they really cannot move and adapt that quick. I watched the launch of the Canon imagePRESS both from the outside (small Canon dealer that was first to market with the imagePRESS in the country's 7^th largest print market and from the inside as a newly head hunted acquisition of IKON to their newly formed commercial print initiative (which was 6 months late to market) and watched IKON take quite a bit of time ramping the program up to the monster that it became. Between defining the goals of the organization and the tools to hand out along with push back from local operations and management it was amazing that the program lifted off at all. IKON has a way of taking strong salespeople and administrating them to death. I wonder daily how I ever find time for sales activities in the midst of my spreadsheets and conference calls. But they do have the momentum of figuring out how they want to position their "go to market strategy" though which still makes them very dangerous; much like a wounded water buffalo one must be ready to pull the trigger or get out of the way.


The imagePRESS's successor the Pro C900 is a Hitachi engine (obtained from the Ricoh purchase of Hitachi Printing Systems) with a Ricoh wrapper (fast plastic B2C look and feel). It has obvious Ricoh influences though, odd finishing configurations and odd substrate limitations that are very familiar with typical B2C products. Without time to finish the development Ricoh opted not to use a polymer toner but to use the old fashioned fuser oil process and the slow down the engines speed capability to build it to a price point. This fusing process is the one that we have over the years come to know and love. For the old timers this should bring back fond memories, as many have come to love the glossy, greasy get out your shammy cloth and buff the proof look. Outside of that, the engine has a very good color gamut (very similar to the imagePRESS) and has 8 bit color depth at the 600X600 dpi setting. (Unlike Canon's "multi bit" technology) The engine has remarkable front to back registration and clearly shows that Ricoh is "on to something." A very strong competitor to the Xerox Docucolor series it will challenge and even beat the imagePRESS where its few obvious weaknesses are not the main consideration. Upon a more detailed look the Hitachi influence is pretty obvious. The registration system is something that closer resembles something off of an offset press not a copier, and the systems that monitor quality are obvious improvements "not Ricoh." From beefed up rollers and mechanisims inside the outer wrapper is purely cosmetic. With expanded controller options in the near future and the ability to incorporate all of Ricoh's finishing options this will be a horse to ride in an economy where people want more for less and sellable is good enough.


With Ricoh moving into the production arena full steam, backing this movement not just with the acquisition but in a total refresh of IKON demo floors, infrastructure, finances and personnel. With strong incentives to stay and see the changes through RiKON is positioned themselves to make strong moves on Canon and Xerox as the new product takes hold in the market place. Also for those elite customers that need NexPRESS or Digimaster they will have that to choose from as well as the IBM infoprint roll to roll systems that at the moment is a joint venture soon to be another wholly owned subsidiary of Ricoh are also on the menu. Now with their PPBG (Ricoh production print business group) and IKON (a real production print equipment and solutions distribution system) Ricoh for the first time has some products to sell and a way to market and support them on a global basis.


How long will this take? My guess after watching the launch of the imagePRESS and seeing the state of the C900 today I am thinking that things will be in place to move forward for a strong play by Q3 or Q4 of Ricoh's 2009 fiscal. Also watch for a faster and a slower C900 along with firmware coming shortly to integrate all options on their mid volume line to fit the C900. This will give the C900 a dominant opportunity in the in plant and crd space given its specs and price point.


Where will it all fit in commercial print? We will have to see how everyone perceives the C900. With open houses going on around the country, and very critical trials being pursued as we speak; some of the country's largest buyers of digital printing equipment are trying this new Hitachi technology out. Once they make their decision we will have a clear idea of how well we are going to fare this round. Ricoh with enough stamina and finances to get through several boxing rounds gives me the impression that they will get to see the fulfillment of their new objective. "Become a player in the print for pay and high volume market." With Konica Minolta running tight on Ricoh's heels and niche players poised to be gobbled up by someone for example like Oce it is still anyone's race. And what if Xerox decides to drop this AP platform that is just an extension of worn out technology the race could renew yet again. Although pay close attention though as IKON restructures it may take the focus off of those that understand the production world (those that sold and serviced the Canon's) and replace them with new inexperienced followers of the Ricoh line (mfp, fax and b2c color devices) as part of a realignment that might make sense to someone that has been staring at spreadsheets too long.


It is hard to say how long Ricoh will allow the rogue IKON to continue selling multi brands and non focus products but it clear that nothing drastic is going to change in the short term. Everyone is still trying to convince themselves that it is "business as usual." And in an economic and political time like this makes this whole discussion even more interesting. Canon is still dizzy from trying to figure out how they are going to replace 400 locations and how much they are willing to drain out of their large cash reserves to "buy back" customers that chose Canon products and specifically picked IKON as their service provider; they have a tough row to hoe. If one looks at other mergers to glimmer a bit of history one remembers that Global did not lose the farm but instead grew their market share and did quite well after the Xerox acquisition. RiKON could very well come out stronger than ever. Unlike the Danka purchase by Konica Minolta. (I would guess that the danka.konicaminolta.us will quickly change to kmbs.konicaminolta.us as they have no need for the extra dead weight and reputation that Danka has earned over the years.)


I was there for the Minolta and Konica merger and survived it (2 President's Club Trips and 1 Circle of Excellence Trip) so I know how step children are treated. They are managed to success or simply managed out. With mostly the "Minolta Management Style" left they are a very shrewd and focused group led by a Konica visionary (Jun H.) they will drive hard till they reach their business objective which is to become a "Tier 1 Player." Konica Minolta will press on till they move over one of the Gartner's "4 leaders" or knock one out of the game completely. That was their new mantra as I left to chase the Canon imagePRESS product which now has done a vanishing act from my portfolio.


Gartner has Konica Minolta as a challenger and that they truly are. With a very different "to market approach" they are not part of the "leaders" group of thinking (Canon/Xerox/Ricoh/HP). They are very much out of the box and are non traditionalists that could become a wild card in this program; they are not to be taken lightly. With their 90 ppm engine to be out soon the playing ground will level once again and they will be competing from a position of strength stepping up from their current production platform which has done very well in office, in plant and print for pay markets (both commercial print and franchise print).


As I look at my options which are still considerable (enough to keep me with a headache all the time) I am not sure that I see a clear leader to "jump" to. I suspect that as I look at the different organizations that no one has a truly superior program to the one that IKON has put together and the one that RiKON has adopted. What I have seen is a clear indication from Japan that they intend to move into this brave new world that their direct group was unable to accomplish. Now with IKON in hand they can boldly go where they have never gone before.


So what does the future look like?


Muddy and troubled for everyone in this industry. But for those that are brave enough to stick out this new world of RiKON they will be quick to learn the new vision; we are on a 5 year mission to travel out to distant zip codes, and to seek out new customers, and to boldly sell what no one has sold before. We tip our hats to you Mr. C900 may your silicone oil flow through our veins and your "green" pulverized toner sustain us, and your plethora of finishing options take us to the promised land.


Amen


Just another personal opinion from Pirate "Big Iron" Mike…

(May the rate factor be with you and your credit analyst be "on vacation")

Once a Pirate, Always a Pirate

People for the longest time have asked about the pirate reference. Here is a bit of history from which I will build on that explains a bit of what the reference means. I will explain later how the reference was bestowed upon me. – Pirate Mike…

A Pirates Life is good; he lives outside the sovereign boarders of areas that are ruled by kings. Kings rule by land, Pirates rule themselves, and live on the water. Pirates do not subject themselves to the rules of the land, this offends the rulers because if what they did was taxed they would not be pirates they would be commanders of the Navy! In fact in many references that are relatively recent, countries would hire pirates to do what they could not tell/justify to their subjects that they used the Navy for.

The reference to piracy goes back over 3000 years. It appears that the word pirate (peirato) was first used in about 140 BC by the Roman historian Polybius. The Greek historian Plutarch, writing in about 100 A.D., gave the oldest clear definition of piracy. ¹ In this writing the definition that Plutarch used was, "as those who attack without legal authority not only ships, but also maritime cities"

I think the phrase to focus on in this century is "without legal authority." Pirates answer to no one but God himself. Living on their own terms; finding their own way by day and night using the skills that they have developed by the rights of survival. Survival is the key; pirates live by sea and explore the land for resources. Pirate Captains were providers, using the resources that they find on land to maintain themselves, and their companions that follow their leadership about the ship.

Leadership is a key trait in all successful pirates. Without leadership there is no survival. Old pirates whom have lived by the sword for their entire lives have developed leadership, loyalty, tenacity, and entrepreneur desires. To desire to live free has become the utmost priority. To live and die by your dreams has become the mantra at any cost.

A pirate's fate is not a surprise. Pirates are not shocked by their end. Those that live by the sword know well that their end will be by the sword. Make no mistake, I do nothing that I am not aware of, or understand the consequences that could find me. To live fully and with emotion is important even to the modern day pirate. Without the great successes and failures, we would never know life. I put the war paint on every day and expect to be attacked, surprised, and overwhelmed. A day without such great experiences and emotions would be a sad day. To wake up without purpose, without direction would be like setting sail without a chart. Living life believing that the world is flat, as the Kings of old, is as silly as thinking that your dreams will come to you.

A pirate is not scared to sail toward the horizon. The horizon may look bleak to you, but know in your heart that on the other side is the land of riches. Those riches take many forms, love, destiny, provision, faith, all things that are worthy to fight for. This is the "land" that pirates seek. They live on the water as this is the fastest way to get from "land" to "land." And the "land" represents the riches that are needed to fulfill the destiny.

To live by someone else's rules, the "kings" is following the world and the ways that it promotes. Being subject to the harshness of rules created by marketing, advertising and the "group think" of society leaves one devoid of your own thoughts and beliefs. Subject yourself to your own thoughts, the beliefs that you have forged through fear and trembling. Take this advice with caution. To follow the ideals of "Pirate Mike" will only put you on the radar screen of those that would "steal your dream," "steal your passion," "steal your life." You will not become a pirate but simply making the choice to do so. Living the dream is more than a decision. It is a way of life; it is not easy to do those things which go against the common wisdom of others (kings). I have lived 38 years as a pirate, and I still find myself in fear of taking chances, of sailing off into the horizon. And I do this every day; you would think that it would get easier.

Once you hit the "radar screen," ships will be dispatched to intercept you. Their task will be to stop you from arriving on "land." They know if you get there you WILL get the rewards of what you seek. Not everyone is happy about others achieving their dreams. If you achieve yours that makes them feel insignificant and shows that they have not arrived at theirs. Know they will kill you, and take whatever treasure you have already found and achieved. Does this not make them thieves as well?

Know this if you venture out passed your comfort zone on a daily basis and subject yourself only to God, and not the "kings" of this world you will be a Pirate. You will begin your day putting on the war paint and drawing your sword at any that stand between you and your dreams. Do not draw your sword in jest, only as a matter of life and death. Once out of its sheath it is lethal and will force others to draw a line and come against you.

A smart pirate is quiet, takes only what he and his companions need and buries the rest for a future time. Keep accurate maps of where your treasure is. Train your companions, bring value to them, and show them the "way." A strong leader is always respected and many times feared and loved at the same time.

A pirate's life is dangerous, and is constantly changing. I embrace the change. I embrace sailing into the horizon. I do not need to know everything, for what I do know is how to set the sails to the wind, and to weather the storms. The other things like collecting the treasure need no manual or introduction. I feel many times that a warriors life is shorter, but if it means being fulfilled and satisfied than bring it on. I apologize to no one for my life, and the treasures it has brought. I wait for no one. I have lived strong, and will fight for myself and others that find themselves under my direction or on my ship.

My ship has set its course; the wind has found her sails. She is bound for port. I am heading for land to plunder what is needed for me and my crew. I fear for those that would try to stop me. I will bring to my crew what they need, and desire. Yes a pirate's life is good.

Once a pirate, always a pirate, I have answered my own question. Yes now to horizon it is…

The ramblings of Pirate Mike…

"In the artificial world of his cities and towns, man often forgets the true nature of his planet. The sense of all these things comes to him most clearly in the course of a long ocean voyage, when he watches day after day the receding rim of the horizon, ridged and furrowed by waves… And then, as never on land, he knows the truth that his world is a water world, a planet dominated by its covering mantle of ocean, in which the continents are but transient intrusions of land above the all-encircling sea. – Rachel Carson

Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American
marine biologist and nature writer whose writings are often credited with launching the global environmental movement. ²

¹
Krzysztof Wilczy--ski "History of Piracy" http://www.piratesinfo.com/

² http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Carson

Free Gem Tumbler, Stones Not Included...

Free Gem Tumbler, stones not included…

When others look into your life what do they see? Do they look at you and see an ugly old stone, or as a polished gem? All of us are in the tumbler of life and we provide the stones for which it will polish. We are all in different stages of completion. As we wander through we find the stones that we must carry to the next destination. As we go from stage to stage we see those stones change and begin to polish up. The ultimate goal is to become polished enough that someone would want to keep us.

The sad thing is when people are too afraid to go through the polishing process. Many people refuse to change and embrace the challenges that come our way. They are always avoiding pain. They will not allow themselves to be ground into something new. The stones of our lives are collected and are never fully complete. The grit that the tumbler uses are the sacrifices and struggles that come against us as we walk down life's path.

Between the motion of crashing into the stones and the intense friction that is created with the grit the hard outer shell soon comes away and what is left is a shiny exterior that was the inner self of the stone. We too must go through the tumbler of life and let the hard outer shell of this world come off so that we may become that which we were intended; beautifully polished and desirable.

When we look upon a person for the first time what we typically see is the outward appearance that is what attracts us to them. After the first 30 minutes it is usually apparent at what stage they are in their tumbler and what stones that they are carrying around with them. It is very unfortunate that most can't look into a mirror and see what it is that others do. Often times people project what they want you to see and work very hard to hide the stones that they are carrying with them.

They do not want you to see them and know what they are and in what stage they are in. That would expose them and sometimes painfully so. I have always believed that people will eventually see your stones; therefore it is best to leave them out in the open so that if there is one of particular interest to someone they will see it upfront and not 6 months later. This is not always possible as many times we can overwhelm people with our history and needs. This is typically a process and requires some tact so that you just don't go run people off.

But what is the saddest is when people totally refuse to grow and change, and do not allow themselves to tumble. I have been tumbling for some time now and have fought the process with everything I have. I have climbed out of the tumbler on occasion and spit on the grit. Somehow I keep getting scooped up and thrown back in. I hope that as I start to wear down that someone can appreciate me. I know that it has taken everything I have to get to here. I hope that at the end of the road there is someone that really cares about what I have gone through to be the shinny pebble that they keep in their pocket.

Pirate Mike, caught in the tumbler again…

"The weather has come to discourage me from my choice of destination, but what she doesn't know is that without her wind and waves I surely would never get there..." - Pirate Mike

Driven… to excellence or failure

You know over the years I feel like I had less to do with myself than I used to give myself credit for. I back in my 20's used to think that I was the sole "destinator" of where I would end up ultimately. Well a few years later and a lot of emotional circumstances, both wins and losses have shown me that I was but a guest in the grand scheme of things. Just a light gust of wind on a breezy sunny day.

What I mean by that is I did have free choice, and I did exercise it on many occasions. But both good and bad decisions that I have made that still seemed to bring me to the same place where regardless, (or should I say in spite of myself) of the choices that I made I ended up ok. The opportunity presented itself and I acted; now I may have been able to act better but as you will see later I knew that if I didn't do something quick I may do nothing at all. I am a firm believer that success happens when opportunity and preparedness meet. Success is a 2 part offer. The sad thing is that many of us would have had more success if we would have had been prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves.

Have you ever said to yourself, wow just think; I thought of that years ago, or man if I could have saved my money just a few months longer, or …. Well that is where preparedness comes in. Many times we wander through our life like a leaf in the winds of time. As a sailor I am quite aware what happens when you put your sails up without checking where the wind is and at what angle the sail is to the wind. Many times we think we are ready for an opportunity and we put our sails up, but we did not prepare ourselves and like the sailor that put his sail up incorrectly and went nowhere with a full sail.

Now how sad is it to watch someone we love struggle against the tides of indecision or even worse make choices that they would later regret. One thing that I know is that the tide goes out and if you are patient the tide surely will return. Knowing timing is important; this is a component to being prepared. You do not want to get in a narrow pass during a tidal exchange, especially if you are trying to sail against a current when the tidal exchange is dramatic. Why you might ask? Well when the tide goes out or even comes in (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a low or high tide) and the exchange of water is great, currents form that head out to sea or come back at great speeds. (Tides come and go, also referred to as flood tide(high) and ebb tide (low)

Trying to sail 6 knots against a current that is 9 knots is futile. You will end up going backwards at a rate of 3 knots. But if your timing is right and you head out at the slack tide (a time in between tides when the water is neither going out to sea nor coming in) you will make headway and get to your destination.

Knowing timing in our life is very important, as we identify our desires we need to make sure that we are prepared to make the decisions that have to be made in order for those desires to come true. And many times also must know when to not act on a desire due to lack of preparedness. Surely if we take off to tackle a great desire and yet have bad timing, we are sure to fail. This can be seen in relationships when people didn't finish with themselves and yet moved forward too soon with the right person in a deep relationship that they were incapable of maintaining. How sad it is when they lose the relationship only due to lack of preparation and not due to lack of opportunity.

I have had many opportunities in my life. Many that I took on at or near the right time and several opportunities that I took on way before my time. I have also been a part to and witnessed people that had a desire and prepared themselves for it. Waiting for the tide to go slack, got in their vessel to take on the opportunities and just as they left the slip let go on the sheets that held onto their sails and sabotaged themselves due to fear of the unknown.

One of our greatest enemies many times is ourselves. Many times in our subconscious we are scared of winning/success. We are scared that what happens if I achieve this great new job, or this great new relationship. I will be required to work hard to maintain, or earn it. The fear of what will I do if I get this, or achieve this. When we sit down to identify our desires and spend the energy and time to prepare ourselves for opportunity we must also be ready to stave off the fear that will settle in as we approach our new goal or desire. We must be ready to reestablish new goals to replace the one that has been achieved so that we can like the sails set properly can maintain forward movement in a desirable direction.

Many times fear of success is as great of a detriment to our future as apathy and laziness. Nothing is ever static we are either moving forward or backward. We are born and we immediately start the dying process. In life we are in a constant state of evolution. Just like the seas, they are in constant motion and only slow down for a moment, many times the way we do only to start back up again, moving forward or backwards.

It has been proven many times that people will do more to avoid pain than to gain pleasure. Therefore in the sense of motivators, we will many times go way out of our way to avoid something we are unfamiliar with. Unfortunately many times this thing we are not familiar with is success. All too often we are more comfortable with where we are at then where we really want to go. Typically where we want to go is somewhere that we are not and have been not. This uncertainty is what creates the emotion of fear and doubt. This is where the uncertainty comes in, once the uncertainty has grasped the brain, the emotions that come from that are death. Death to the new ideas, Death to the new dreams, Death to the new job, Death to the new relationship, Death to the new move across the country, Death to the hopes and goals that you have lived a lifetime to never achieve. Fear becomes our greatest motivator, and with fear no good thing can be accomplished. Knowledge is the great dissolver of fear. Therefore the second half to being prepared other than timing is knowledge. Knowledge is power this old saying is true, and knowledge with great timing is success.

Don't allow fear to grasp you in this way. I am no different. I have fears. I have found that sometimes I must not use too much "common sense" as if it is common and shared by the general public it probably is laden with fear and insecurity. The problem with Common sense is that it is common and is easy to get a hold of. So in that, I am a bit of a gambler. I have a tendency when something I want is at risk to take chances. I am always looking for an uncommon knowledge, the same knowledge that created men like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, William Churchill, etc.

Normally if it will not kill me, won't financially ruin me, or mar me for life. I will just give in to my passions and desires. Try it and jump with both feet in. That way if the water is really cold I cannot back out of it due to doubt and insecurity. Living this way is not for everyone, you could end up with many regrets. Most people do not realize that they shouldn't regret anything, because at one point that was exactly what you wanted. Be grateful that you were able to have it, and many are not so fortunate, their fears have kept them from experiencing anything.

I would rather look back are realize that I would with 20/20 hindsight maybe have done things a bit different, but I would hate to look back and realize that I did nothing. That is my biggest fear, is that I will get to the end of my journey, and realize that when the wind came I never put my sails up. How sad, to never have used all that was given to you.

So as for me, I am taking chances every day. I am meeting new people. I am conquering and overcoming my fears. I am enjoying learning to love new activities. I am experiencing touch and being tactile in new ways. I am exploring my mind, and my senses. I am challenging my natural tendency to be scared of things I am not familiar with. I match that fear with the knowledge of self discovery. I get a hold of new ideas and facts and apply them to new problems and issues. I am a problem solver, I am a lover, I am an explorer, I am a learner and in the world of high dollar technical sales you can not afford to slow down or take a break. Learning is the foundation for future success. And knowledge without action is futile.

The reality is that many times we must face our own demons. We must prepare and we must use good timing, but without the hard work it is all in vain. And too often we look to find fault with others actions, when indeed it was our own inappropriate or lack of action that brought us to a particular junction. I was talking to one of my old sales managers that has moved on to become incredibly successful with his career. He said to me "Michael, usually when the grass appears greener on the other side of the fence is because of a lack of watering on our own side." - Zack Jones

Again, I must agree. It is funny how I agree more and more with the man that I used to yell at and almost get into fights with every Friday afternoon at approximately 5pm. Amazing how a few years along in the industry will change perspective.

Typically when things are slow and our pipeline empty, this simply means we have not been diligent with what has already been given to us to tend to. I look forward to the new opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. I am watering my plot of land and am planting seed. But I have drawn my sword should someone stumble onto my land, lest I find a quick meal and a handful of coin.

I am a hunter, and as a hunter I kill what comes by, but I will also tend my land; as a hunter in winter becomes a busy farmer by the late summer with the proper planting. The cycle of plenty will come back around and I do not want to miss my chance to live off the land either by plow or by the sword.

Well it is true now more than ever when we look on the other side for greener pastures it is typically becuase we have not been watering our own side. Activity begets success almost in everything. Without the sowing their can be no reaping. Without the lying in wait their can be no great surprise or great kill.


The ever evolving rambling of Pirate Mike…

"The seas never stop; they come and go bringing to their inhabitants the substance of life, so is the tide of our life's, people come and go and with them they bring us the substance of life… don't ever give up on people, as you will have given up on your yourself…" - Another original from Pirate Mike…

Seven Deadly Sins… The qualifications of a copier salesman…

I have uncovered or become aware of some odd understandings relative to work over the last couple of months. I am not sure really sure how to articulate them, but what I can do is describe them to you and you can figure them out for yourself.

The idea of 7 deadly sins is not spoken of in the bible directly but was used in early Christian teachings to illuminate the idea that man was prone to sin. Catholic teaching broke sin into 2 classifications, venial and mortal sin. The 7 deadly sins are capital or mortal sins.

Listed in the same order used by both Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th century, and later by Dante Alighieri in his epic poem The Divine Comedy, the seven deadly sins are as follows: luxuria (extravagance, later lust), gula (gluttony), avaritia (greed), acedia (sloth), ira (wrath), invidia (envy), and superbia (pride).1

Every day I walk a simple path. I talk to people and listen to their problems. After considering the causes and effects of their situation I ask them questions to probe into what they have done to fix their problems and how that effected their situation. I pay close attention to the things that bother them the most and try to get them to prioritize their problems and find out what they are willing to do to fix or remove the problems. I identify the people involved in the problem and the people that are affected by it. I try to assess how much the problem costs them in both hard and soft costs. Once I get a picture of who is involved and the process that they go through to solve their problems, I get an idea if this is something that they want to fix now or in the future.
At the end of the day I have to sit with myself and put together a plan of action and present it to the people that are responsible to fix the problem. If they buy into what I have put down they agree and act, if not they disagree we discuss it further. If we cannot come to an agreement we both go our separate ways and they continue with the situation that they have as it was before I came along.

This is the life of a document management equipment and services professional. We are sometimes referred to as the "copier guy." I am sure that in this day and age we should be called the "copier person," as the gender reference is quite unnecessary. In this game either sex has the same opportunity to participate in the 7 deadly sins that are so profound in this industry. When I talk about being a corporate pirate most laugh and think I am joking or exaggerating the situation but if you could be a fly on the wall in our building and the many buildings just like ours you would not sleep at night.

Ok that is probably an exaggeration, but it would shock you and in many cases disgust you. After almost 5 years this industry many times makes me feel ashamed of the people I work with and for. I many times have said that your success with a company like mine as a customer is dependent on your connection to it. If your rep is not good, neither will be your experience with the company they work for. Manufacturers and dealers of office equipment and document management services work on a very basal level. And in many cases the parent company or distribution organization is quite evil by nature. Your only hope is to have a buffer "rep" to keep you whole in the experience, or at least minimize the beating (both financial and emotional) you will take from it.

I most of the time try to overlook how others act and the underlying tones that are so prevalent in my business. I try very hard to balance myself and offer solutions to problems and charge people a equitable price somewhere between the extremes that are going to be presented by my counterparts. I also try to the an expert in the areas of topic so that I bring value and am not making money without earning it and putting in the work needed to earn the business for the long term.

I was privy to a conversation which displayed the ugliness that is so frequently seen that makes even the most native business person wary of people in our industry. When dragged into the conversation I was a presented a scenario and asked a question. I answered, "oh that is greedy you can't do that well I mean you can but you will be exposed and the customer will hate you for life." Everyone looked at me like I was a Martian speaking Swahili. I for a brief moment remembered why I consider leaving this business almost daily. The sad thing is it is the culture that has been fostered for many generations of salespeople and managers and is not needed at all.

You could almost say the 7 deadly sins are the 7 needed qualities of a "copier salesperson."
Companies interview perspective employees and make sure that they have ample quantities of each of the 7 deadly sins and forgo any real qualifications. My first boss said, "Michael even a monkey can do this job." He further illustrated, "I could tape a lease to the back of a blind dog, kick him out of the building and eventually he would come back with it signed." He would later prove himself correct and become wildly successful as a salesman, sales manager and then a branch manager for a fortune 1000 company.


So let's for fun look into the world of a copier salesperson just briefly and examine the qualifications first hand shall we.

Qualification of a good copier salesperson 1

Latin: luxuria (extravagance, later lust)
In copier sales an effective sales manager will show a young salesperson how to drive their desires for things which of themselves are not evil but to excess are lustful. Whether it is sex, money, power, control if you are still breathing surely you don't have enough of any of them. A good copier salesperson will never be satisfied, and will always be disappointed with how much they sell, how much they make (see greed), how quickly they get promoted, how long their vacation is. A great copier salesperson will stop at nothing to further their lust of all things corporate.

Qualification of a good copier salesperson 2

Latin: gula (gluttony)
In copier sales the best sales representatives will be easily identified by how well they gorge themselves on all things corporate. Copier salespeople are not temperate or aware that they should have any natural limits to anything the desire (see above). A good manager will gather his or her sales people together on a regular basis and teach basic gluttony. This is really quite a simple thing to learn, you just take your newbie's out and feed them a $200 dinner, drink 2 or 3 bottles of very expensive liquor/wine, and have grand discussions on how they too can have more than they can legitimately use for themselves. A good sales manager will take the new people out shopping and show them how to buy things they don't need or will ever use. The virtue of overkill will be a daily practice until they even employ it in their own lives.

Qualification of a good copier salesperson 3

Latin: avaritia (greed)
Money is just the beginning of greed. A good sales manager will make sure to teach the principle if the customer is spending $10 and is unhappy they will gladly spend $20 to be happy, even when the solution costs $2 and can be sold at a profit for $4. Why would you save the customer $6 when you can increase their budget based on the pain they have and make an extra $16, $8 of which you will get to keep. Managers are quick to instruct their salespeople to get what is theirs and a bit more. It is so bad that over time it becomes so common that the goal is to see how much you can charge someone without them going bankrupt before they make their first payment and lock themselves into the deal or before they realize how bad they got screwed. Greed goes way beyond the customer but reaches into the team that they are on and the associates that they work with. Greed says that you must sell everything in your neighbors' pond before reaching into your own. A good manager will promote greed as it facilitates the need to sell more and makes everyone more competitive as they must to survive.

Qualification of a good copier salesperson 4

Latin: acedia (sloth)
This is a principle that is taught by the manager that has to be managed all the time. It is the manager's job to manage focus of their salespeople and ensure that their needs are met first. Sloth is taught as a privilege. If you over achieve and sell more than anyone needs, and ensure the managers needs are cared for you can do absolutely nothing. They are taught to sleep in, stare at their computers, take time off. It is the reward for proper lusting, greediness, gluttony as well as the other 3. When you have overloaded on the other 6 deadly sins you must Sloth. Slothing becomes a way of life. You wake up driven by the lust of being over full (gluttony) and greed and the reward for over achieving is Slothfullness.

Qualification of a good copier salesperson 5

Latin: invidia (envy)
A good and experienced manager will stack rank their salespeople and grade them against all of the other salespeople across the organization regardless of how much of an apple vs orange comparison it really is. A good copier salesperson cannot stand to see another have success and becomes driven by the lust of success to overachieve and be as greedy as possible so that they can overcome and surpass all of their comrades. A quickly rising manager will ensure that every one of their sales reps cannot stand to even hear of someone else's success or participate in an activity with someone they think could possibly out do them. Envy resents anything that is good that happens or is good about anyone that they see. Envy is very closely related to Pride, and it drives the lust of self worth which is the fuel that makes pride gluttonous.

Qualification of a good copier salesperson 6

Latin: superbia (pride)
A sales manager cannot graduate until they are good at making each sales person believe that they are the best and deserve everything and more. Days of sloth are awarded to those that can be the fullest of themselves. Copier sales people gorge themselves with the lusts of the flesh and material goods until they cannot move or afford to move then are pushed out the door with belief that they are the only person alive and that they deserve more. They are rewarded for becoming a prima donna. A good manager will know how to control their prima donna's and let them all think they are 1. A practical organization will parade their top performers around and show them that they are invaluable and that they can have anything they desire fueling their lusts. Then the manager just begins over and finds new untapped desires and drives them to gluttony with greed, and keeps them competing with envy in the fearlessness of their pride. When they fall over from exhaustion they give them days to recuperate by awarding them time to Sloth. If they are having a bad month they will use their pride to control them with the envy and wrath of their fellow associates.

Qualification of a good copier salesperson 7

Latin: ira (wrath)
Wrath is a byproduct of the final two deadly sins Envy and Pride. It is quite ugly and not as common but is a product of greed and envy. When someone else has success a good copier sales person becomes instantly envious and because they are excessively greedy they fuel this emotion with wrath, which satisfies their pride in that they should be the only one that can be so successful or rich or whatever the deadly sin promotion is for the month. It is most obvious when the greed of one sales person takes an account from another to fuel their lust of one of their desires. Since they cannot satisfy this gluttony with their own accounts they must do it with someone else's. It is much more pleasurable to satisfy themselves with someone else's accounts. This lust and greed creates the wrath of the sales person that is feeling envious of the success of the greedy and gluttonous sales rep. A good manager deals with wrath in the most obvious way, with a good dose of pride. "You are not going to let so and so do that to you are you?" "You know you are twice the sales person they are!" Then an experienced sales manager will look for a lust that can fuel the envy and promote the rep that has wrath to go out and be greedy enough to show up the original rep. Wrath is a great way to push someone to compete with the others when the other 5 are having little effect. Sloth is reserved for those that have been over gluttonous for some time and had a lot of success being lustful and greedy.
The seven deadly sins require a lot of effort to perfect so typically a good manager will only focus and practice one at a time till they manage a group of major account executives or specialists. In which case the sales people are quite advanced and can practice multiple sins at a time. This requires a very greedy and prideful manager that can truly harness the energy of their people and use it to fuel their own desires (lust) and gluttony. And of course a good manager works their sales people to death chasing after the dream while they practice the greatest of all sins; Sloth…

In the end a good copier salesman or saleswomen (which there are many) are taught that they deserve whatever they can take from someone else and that it is ok at any cost. They are taught to pull out the stops and go for broke. They are taught how to gamble as professionals and to know when to risk it all for the payoff of the ultimate permanent full time sloth which is held as a carrot to a donkey.

I hope you have enjoyed this enlightenment…

PS – There are organizations that promote the 7 virtues and moderate their sales people keeping them "connected" and customer centric. But they are far and few between, and almost nonexistent in the copier business.

This is why I live a simple life on a 34 foot boat, forsaking the trappings of Dallas and all that is offers. Not that I haven't had my moments being caught up in the limelight. I was after all a 2 time president's club winner and a 1 time circle of excellence winner for that unnamed fortune 1000 company that way talked about above. I am the prodigy of that sales manager that eventually became a branch general manager ;)

Life is fast, life is hard, life never lasts long enough to learn how simple it really is. We complicate it so that we can feel superior to everything else that God has created, when really we were created from the very dust that everything else walks on - Pirate Mike

I am sure that this is considered blasphemous to those that are in my industry as we all want to believe that we are saints. (It is part of our pride) – Pirate Mike

8:30pm and where are you?

Yes I am at work. What am I doing you may ask? Well I am preparing a file for print, so this could be considered in production terms “ripping time.” Ripping is when a print file is processed and is prepared to be printed. I happen to be preparing 6000 post cards with complex variable data that are needed for an open house that we are putting together.

Why 8:30pm you ask? Well I am in outside sales and this is the only time that I have to myself where I can sit down and think. 8 to 5 is selling time and that is when all good salespeople should be out meeting new potential clients and talking with old ones. It is the time when you should be finding leads and closing business. It is not when you should be printing something.

Time is always of the essence. We never have enough time either for ourselves or to accomplish everything that we would like to at our work. Some jobs differ as they can be walked away from and they come to a stopping point at the end of the day. Mine on the other hand never has an ending point it just starts over each day and goes till I give up.

Commitment to the task and integrity is what all companies are looking for. If we could find people that took pride in their work and made sure the task was completed we would not find many of our jobs being sent over seas. It is hard to get mad at someone just because they will work till the job is completed or have taken the time to get an education and work for a price that attracts a company’s attention.

We are ultimately lazy and this is seen in ever vertical market there is. Whether you are a plumber or an electrician an auto mechanic or a printer we all know someone that is always looking for short cuts and isn’t concerned for the quality of their work. It is a shame that we take so little pride in what we do that we can be replaced so easily.

At my job people always look at me crazy as I tend to offer a hand, show up at accounts that are not mine, take time out of my day to explain or teach a concept to someone new. I don’t fight over accounts. I have been known to hand over a prospect to someone that has the relationship or can get the deal done quicker. I try to put my clients first and make sure their needs are tended to.

In any organization there are many levels of management that are constantly looking at the numbers, maximizing margins, protecting the company’s interest. Who looks out for the client? I have always felt that I was that person. I was the front line sales rep that had to make sure someone that knew what was going on argued on their behalf.

Now there are times when a client is unreasonable but many times things go wrong and the customer is just waiting on an action on the part of the vendor. When things do not get done the customer isn’t sure what happened other than the promise wasn’t kept. It is our duty to ensure that the promises are kept and that things go as smooth as they can. The larger the company is and the more complex of an operation that has to be performed, the more that can go wrong. Many times things can get started off on the wrong foot with inaccurate paperwork, poor order entry, lack of documentation, lack of explanation or a vague or incomplete statement of work. When orders are delayed things start off poorly. Then if the implementation and execution isn’t smooth you know you are heading for disaster. Billing and Service after the fact just make things worse if you have already started down this slippery slope of non performance.

I get caught in between the customer and our company all the time. It is normal for something to go wrong at some stage in the game. The more experience you have and the better you get just means that you deal with these situations quicker and with more style. I like to think that I am pretty good at what I do and that many times it looks like everything is under control even when I am about to come unglued.

Customers don’t know your business like you do, and they have no clue as to what happens after they sign the “magical documents” you provide them. Many start to get excited about all of the business problems their new purchase is going to solve and start to believe all the reasons why they signed the paperwork you gave them in order to feel good about what they have done. Once things start to come down they start to have feelings of uncertainty that unravel their thoughts and give them fears that create new objections you must over come.

It is in your best interest to soft sell your timeline and to build in some help for yourself by selling your customer some of the potential pitfalls upfront so that they know there will probably be some things that go wrong and how you have overcome them in the past. When they realize that this is part of the overall process and that you have prepared for it, they tend to be a bit more forgiving.

What happens many times is that deals that we have been working for a while or deals that came up suddenly many times mature quicker than we had originally expected, as the customer comes to the decision that he or she is going to move forward. Many times this happens at the end of a month, quarter etc and then the pressure is on within the company to find product and people to do the service functions that surround it. Supply chain demands push everything to the limit. Backorders are commonplace and technicians and analysts are booked out weeks in advance. No one is available for that new order you just brought in at the last second.

But no one is going to stop an order they simply let nature take its course and everyone plays the “quiet game” till the customer breaks the silence just to inform everyone that they are about to pull the plug on the deal. If the proper expectations are set up front and the order coordinators stay in contact with the customer as the order in entered and processed to that the customer knows what to expect and what is going on many of the issues could be avoided. All to often the customer sets the salesperson up but trying to hold them to the fire on deadlines and time schedules.

This actually works against the customer in many ways. It sets an unrealistic expectation and pushes the salesperson away to their quiet place. This refuge is where all sales people go to “hide” from the potential negative responses that come from a client that is awaiting action from someone. When the desired actions don’t take place the typical response is the “pull” the order and look for a new vendor that can fulfill the order as they expected the process to proceed.

Communication and preparation are necessary to keep the customer engaged in the process and to ensure that they never feel caught unawares. Sometimes the simplest things make the greatest difference. Even a quick email sometimes can fend off the wrath of an unfulfilled order. Customers need to be able to plan and make arrangements so they do not look foolish in front of their supervisors and customers.

Often time’s promises are made on their behalf to others and no one wants to look the fool. We must protect our customers from themselves and set proper expectations so that we can over deliver what we have under promised. The reverse can be deadly to the highly sought after “new business.”

I am a hunter, and I am always looking for a “clean kill.” I like many salespeople hate to get messy. I am the type of person that pays close attention to details and can get lost in the minutia if not careful. I have to make sure that I keep myself out of the office and in the field or I will stay busy and not productive.

This is why it is 9:30 pm and I am still working. I am targeting this rip to be done by 10:00 pm and that means I will be able to go home by midnight. I will have enough time to get some sleep so that I can hit it hard tomorrow and start another hunt for my next customer.

Pirate Mike…


P.S. It is 12:11am and it turns out that the press I was going to use is having technical difficulties.

The sea of emotions,

I have found the emotion of life is what fuels the heart, mind and soul. Without it we would not perceive our accomplishments or failures. Absent of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows we surely would take for granted our consciousness. It is to this end that we strive to feel and decipher the addiction that is our daily emotional fix. I have been “off the wagon” for some time now, and now in a weakened state I feel that it is time to check myself into rehab.
.. ..
It is now time to rehabilitate my heart, mind and soul from the daily bingeing that comes from a high pressure sales job selling capital goods for a global company. Just as coffee and cigarettes seem to be a prerequisite for a salesperson so to is his or her addiction to a high level of emotions a requirement. These emotions fuel us and drive us to our ultimate end. They are what makes us champions and like a lead weight takes us to our graves at the bottom of the ocean.
.. ..
Months after the initial shock that turned out to be a turning point in my mental career, I am still stunned. I wake up each day hoping the tidal surge will subside so that I can take residence back in my mind where my consciousness calls home. My heart is still heavy with the current that carries me along. Like the tides of the ocean, my soul is heavy from the flow of information that ebbs and floods from my mind to my heart and back. Waiting for a slack tide so that my heart can rest enough to pick back up when the information overload returns.
.. ..
Now a survivor of two corporate mergers I feel the pain of those whom have had to change their way of life over the greed of share holders and corporate executives. After watching first hand the inflation of egos and the supposition of truth for what surely was an advertisement of the worst kind. Mental marketing coming from all directions to sooth the savage salesperson and keep him or her at bay. Restricting the freedom of understanding and knowledge to minimize the impact of the truth was their only goal.
.. ..
Now I stand alone looking at the aftermath of their greed and manipulation wondering where this new direction will take me. I plot my course and compensate for the deviation that can be accounted for. With the hope that my calculations are correct I carefully proceed. With so many unforeseen reefs and barriers, I know that ultimately I am responsible for my destination and safety. With a heavy sigh I look to the North hoping the winds will subside. I too need a break like many of those that crew along side me. With the warmth that only a South wind can bring I look for a sunrise signifying that a new day has begun and again my opportunities are anew.
.. ..
I need to believe that my course is well thought out and that my helmsmanship is sure. We only get one chance to do this right and I do not want to wash up on a lea shore with no one to assist in my rescue. Even as a rudder can turn a massive ship, we as individuals have great influence on those around us and can take the team to new heights or destroy any good that is among the crew. With so many lives and families at stake I hope that those that are in power take into consideration their actions and direction.
Bringing new blood onto the ship I see new deck hands daily. Shining their shoes and straightening their uniforms I see them proudly walk around in blissful ignorance. Ahh to be ignorant again and walk hand in hand with the honeymoon that only a newbie can embrace. For those that start up this adventure under the knowledge of the new owners it is a simple task. For those that started under the old captain a new charge could mean a rough trip for everyone.
.. ..
Just as we clean the decks and keep order of the lines we must tend to the corners of our minds. Holding to the truths that we know and leaving room for new understandings that will come from experience and the enlightenments of others. Consistent effort is the key to success and I too must manage the emotions that rule my head and heart. Just as adrenaline keeps us alert in the midst of a storm we must carefully watch ourselves as the storm subsides. Sleep comes to those that take refuge in the lull of action, only to be rudely awakened to dangerous seas as the storm’s anger builds anew.
.. ..
So to in our sales career we must maintain the pressure, even when the storm seems to subside. If we take the pressure off we will find ourselves in a dangerous position as our pipeline comes to an ugly end. We must be diligent and keep alert to the ever increasing dangers that lurk around every point. In this age of technology we are constantly being bombarded with information that can overload our emotions and carry us off like a tidal wave.
.. ..
As the immediate storm system subsides I wait to clearly take inventory during the daylight to reconcile the reports. I am also curious to see the changing of the watch that is to come so that I may know whom I will report to in the coming hours and days. What we do know is we have survived the first wave, but we do not know what is behind it. Only time will tell us what our true fate is to be. I for one am eager to meet my destiny.
.. ..

Pirate Mike

Out from the ashes...

January 10th many years ago (1999)…
Seems like another lifetime that my life dramatically changed. My mother, sister and I had just arrived home from what was to be the last trip we would ever spend together. We had arrived late and our mother needed her rest. That day will live out in my mind forever. Her door locked and late afternoon approaching I knocked to see why she had not come out to enjoy the day with us.
A brain aneurysm had taken her life and that day my journey to learn and live on my own truly began. This is just the next step in embracing writing and experiencing the thoughts and emotions of others through the gift that she gave me.

I hope to be able to develop my writing skills and hopefully make my contribution and publish the writtings that she never got the chance to. 20 years of ink on paper, a lifetime will never be enough.

Pirate Mike… the day after the disaster… just like it was truly yesterday I can remember it quite vividly… my life will never be the same without you... i miss you mom...