Spring Break 2022 Sessions

Visual Edge's Managed IT Services Strategy

David Ramos, chief strategy officer, Visual Edge IT

An estimated 65%-plus of the BTA dealer community is involved in offering managed IT services (MITS). Most have developed their practices organically, while others have acquired existing managed service providers (MSPs) in their respective markets. The session will discuss the critical aspects of both approaches. Even after the initial initiative of buying or building, most are still challenged with growing their managed IT services practices and selling MITS into their current MFP bases. Ramos will also focus on strategies that can help dealers improve penetration into their current client bases. He will focus on how to build the right teams and processes to sell MITS. Content covered will include: lead generation; organizational IT metrics/benchmarks to be managed day to day; quarterly business reviews; and transforming your dealership from one with a culture of print to one with a culture of a total managed solutions provider.

Ramos is the chief strategy officer for Visual Edge IT. He was previously the director of channel strategy service for InfoTrends. He is responsible for managing custom consulting projects, providing forecast analysis, developing market-sizing estimates and marketing channel strategy services to independent companies in the office equipment and IT services space. Prior to joining InfoTrends, Ramos held positions at IKON Office Solutions and Xerox.

Service is a Superpower

Louie Gravance, founder, Louie Gravance Creative Content

When a 'wow moment' in customer service takes place, it happens for both the customer and the employee simultaneously. Inspiring your team to make that connection is the single-greatest tool for maintaining a culture of service excellence. Gravance has reignited a passion for service excellence with bankers, nurses, claims adjusters and casino workers, just to name a small few. This keynote address will explore what a 'wow moment' looks, sounds and feels like, and why delivering these moments is good for everyone involved.

Gravance is founder of Louie Gravance Creative Content. Gravance is often referred to as 'the guy who can make the Disney service concepts work outside of Disney.' From 1987 to 2014, he enjoyed a distinguished career with Disney theme parks, designing everything from live entertainment experiences to customer service training programs through the Disney Institute in Orlando, Florida. Following his tenure in Orlando, Gravance left Disney to pursue other opportunities and soon amassed even more success working as a consultant, customer service speaker and corporate culture guru. He has designed multimillion-dollar service campaigns for companies such as ING Financial, Choice Hotels, Microbac Technologies, Nikon and The American Council of Independent Laboratories. Gravance has been credited with 'literally changing the consciousness of business in America' through his service campaigns and initiatives. At only 12 years old, he began working in California as a stage, film and television actor, and would go on to appear in more than 35 national television commercials. In 1987, Gravance was offered a summer job with The Walt Disney Company, beginning as a comic at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Soon thereafter, he embarking on a nearly three-decade adventure at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. Gravance is the recipient of the Disney Partners in Excellence Award and the Spirit of Disney Award, and has been recognized internationally as a Disney keynote speaker, having begun his professional speaking engagements on behalf of Disney in 1998. Through his company, Louie Gravance Creative Content, based in Orlando, Florida, Gravance continues to offer clients unique training programs with incorporated themes such as 'Great Service Serves the Server First!' and powerful initiatives including 'Service is a Superpower!' In March 2020, he published his first book, 'Service is a Superpower: Lessons Learned in a Magic Kingdom.'

Eliminate Making a Bad Hire Forever

Dale Stein, co-founder & partner, and Brian Suerth, president, Technology Assurance Group (TAG), and Mike Ardry, president, Automated Business Solutions (ABS)

Have you ever heard the phrase, 'too quick to hire, too slow to fire'? Every business owner has lost time and money because of poor hiring decisions. We all know that hiring the right individual is the most important task an owner or senior manager can do. During this session, you will learn: a proven multistep hiring process; the five most important interview questions; five key knockouts that you need to look for; valuable tools to leverage, including aptitude and personality analysis tests; and the optimal profile for technicians and salespeople. The process is designed to bring in the best while weeding out the worst.

Stein co-founded Technology Assurance Group (TAG) and currently serves as a partner. He is responsible for developing TAG's strategic planning and guiding its business development. Stein has more than 30 years of proven entrepreneurial, business strategy, management, sales and marketing experience. In 2009, TAG entered into a partnership with Voice Smart Networks and, as a result, Stein holds a central role at the company, with locations in Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, California, and is the driving force behind its business development. Until the spring of 2000, he served as CEO of telecommunication company INET Inc. where, under Stein's leadership, it achieved more than $3 million per annum in internal sales growth and became the number-one distributor of Mitel products in North America, averaging $18 million in business before the company was acquired by a public CLEC in 2000. He also founded Westec Security Corp. and served as its CEO. Stein sits on TAG's board, as well as the board for TargetSafety, an online compliance and training company. He also sits on the Advisory Board of Phone+, a national telecom agent organization. Stein is also highly visible in the academic community, where he regularly conducts lectures for the management and entrepreneurship programs at San Diego State University. He received a bachelor's degree in electronic engineering technology from DeVry University in Chicago, Illinois, and certification from Harvard University's Small Company Management Program.

At TAG, Suerth is responsible for directing the company's executive team in its pursuit of ever-improving advice, support and counseling in the technology arena and the expansion of TAG's membership and strategic relationships. He drives the growth and performance of TAG members by delivering in-depth training and consultation in the areas of management, sales, strategic planning, marketing and public relations. During Suerth's time at TAG, he has rapidly risen to national notoriety as a sales and motivational speaker. Prior to joining the organization, he was the marketing manager for Aradiant Corp. (now Telisimo International), a leading call center company. Suerth spent several years as a consultant with AC Nielsen, and he led a variety of teams that provided research, analysis and advice to Fortune 500 companies including Kraft Foods and Quaker Oats. Suerth has written numerous articles that have appeared in national and regional publications. He is a sought-after speaker delivering presentations on technology, managed services and best business practices at vendor dealer meetings and industry conferences. In 2009, San Diego Metropolitan Magazine featured Suerth in its September issue and named him one of San Diego's '40 Under 40.' He received his executive MBA from San Diego State University and bachelor's degree in business administration with a specialization in marketing from Marquette University. Surth has participated on advisory boards for technology manufacturers, and was formerly the chairman of San Diego State University's Executive MBA Advisory Board and president of the Alumni Association.

Ardry is president of Automated Business Solutions (ABS), headquartered in Warwick, Rhode Island. With five locations throughout New England, he has been a major reason for the organization’s growth and strong reputation around the region. Ardry was the former president and owner of Office Equipment Center (OEC), based in Plantsville, Connecticut. He started at OEC as a service technician and purchased the business in 1988. Ardry was there from the beginning, when OEC sold typewriters and calculators. His leadership and vision transformed the company into a complete value-added provider, offering copier/MFPs, printers and managed IT services. Ardry's business model and the company's ongoing growth came to fruition in 2017 when OEC was acquired by ABS. The synergies between Ardry and the ABS leadership team continue to reinforce the vision that was originally created by ABS Founder Alan Albergaria. Ardry personally handles all sales, logistics and administrative duties in support of one of the country’s largest retailers. His success and influence for the last year as the general manager within the Connecticut market led to Ardry's promotion to executive vice president, effective April 2020. In his current role, Ardry oversees all major functions of the organization including, but not limited to: sales, IT, administration, marketing and operations.

Data Trends to Improve Your Bottom Line

Wes McArtor, president, NEXERA, A BEI Services Company

What are the data trends that you need to understand? In this session, McArtor will review the data trends from NEXERA over the last 18 months (A3 versus A4 volume, pre- versus post-COVID-19) and discuss ways to improve your bottom line by watching and understanding these trends.

McArtor started his career as a service tech, rising to various senior-level service positions with Savin and Minolta before founding NEXERA (formerly BEI Services) in 1993. Since then, he has been providing independent dealers with an unbiased source for standards and nationwide comparative service reporting, saving them money along the way. NEXERA now tracks more than 1.1 million service calls on more than 7.6 million imaging devices around the world. He is a familiar face and speaker at industry events for ITEX, the Business Products Council Association (BPCA), the Business Technology Association (BTA), the OMD Users Group and the Copier Dealers Association (CDA).

What Sales Compensation Could Look Like in the Future

Luis Gonzalez, founder, SalesScoreKeeper

As the industry changes and talks about having more and more items sold as services, how will you pay commissions? Will your current compensation plan survive the changes coming down the road? How will you transition your current sales commission plans to adjust for new sales and service models? In this session, Gonzalez will talk about some of the challenges that our industry could face by using legacy transaction-based commission plans as it shifts to a XaaS/device-per-seat business model.

In 2011, Gonzalez founded SalesScoreKeeper, a sales commission automation processing web application that helps dealers increase efficiency and accuracy during the process of sales commissions. In 1986, he founded Miami Office Systems (MOS) in south Florida. MOS specialized in the office technology space for 25 years as an independent dealership. It was acquired by Sharp Electronics Corp. in 2007. From 2007 to 2011, Gonzalez was branch president and director of sales and marketing for Sharp Business Systems. He was most recently senior vice president for Sharp's Business Solutions Group.

Win It Easy or Come in Fourth: Business Lessons from My Dad, The Race Car Driver

Troy Harrison, owner, Troy Harrison & Associates

Sometimes the most important lessons come when you are not even looking for them. Harrison's dad was his hero, teaching him many, many lessons about life and business — all from within the context of racing stock cars together. Harrison's dad passed away in 2015, but the lessons he taught will live with him forever. Now, Harrison wants to share those lessons with you. In this session, you will learn the fundamentals that will help you build the kind of environment and culture that makes for a successful business — and have a little fun, too. He will cover:

• The time he loved losing
• The time his dad helped people beat him and why it is a favorite memory
• How going slowly helped him go faster
• The legend of Old Smokey and why you can always adapt
• And more about his dad's legacy

Harrison, owner of Troy Harrison & Associates, is the author of 'Sell Like You Mean It!' and 'The Pocket Sales Manager.' He is a speaker, consultant and sales navigator who helps companies build more profitable and productive sales forces with his cutting-edge sales training and methodologies.

LinkedIn to Win: Pro Tips to Unleash Your Potential on the #1 B2B Sales Platform

Rick Lambert, founder & CEO, selltowin, and CEO, In2communications

Get ready to supercharge your sales performance with Lambert's top 10 LinkedIn pro tips. You will see how top-performing dealers and MSPs are creating more awareness, generating more leads and winning more deals in 2022 with simple, actionable tips you and your sales team can implement right away. This session will feature industry-specific examples and is the perfect message for business owners, and sales and marketing leaders looking to start or advance their presence on LinkedIn.

Lambert is an award-winning sales performance coach who is the founder and CEO of selltowin, a company that has trained more than 25,000 B2B salespeople. It specializes in new-hire and advanced sales training for managed service providers (MSPs). He is also the CEO of In2communications, a full-service digital marketing agency that helps MSPs engage and connect their brands with today's digital buyers. Lambert's companies combine sales training and digital marketing to form what he calls 'sales offense systems.' In 2018, he was selected an industry Difference Maker by ENX Magazine and in 2019, SAP selected the selltowin eCademy on-demand learning platform as global winner of 'Best Channel Training Partner.' Lambert's clients include OEMs, distributors, MPS infrastructure providers and many of North America's top-performing technology resellers.