Thursday, February 24, 2011

Monday, February 21, 2011

Destroy Your Printer Video Contest 3



I am pleased to announce Expert Laser Services Destroy Your Printer Video Contest 3!

The rules and details of the contest are as follows...

We ask that you make a creative, fun and humorous video of you and your cohorts destroying one of the following: Inkjet Printer, Laser Printer, Copier or Fax/MFP. Then upload the video to youtube and send me the url. At the end of the contest we will choose a winner and the winner will get his or her video posted here on the "Adventures in Office Imaging blog" and they will receive two FREE toner cartridges for their office copier, laser printer, or fax/mfp! In addition, this years prize will also include a $100 dollar donation to a charity of your choice! see below for full contest details, rules and regulations!

Rules and Regulations.

Contest starts February 25, 2011.

1. Contest is open to businesses and other organizations in the United States of America, large or small. Contestants may destroy Inkjet Printers, Fax/MFPs, Laser Printers or Copiers.

* We are looking for humorous and creative videos of you destroying your selected piece of office equipment from the above list of machines.

* Have fun but be careful, Expert Laser Services will not be held responsible for any injuries resulting from the making of your videos.

2. To enter the contest, create a video, upload it to youtube or a similar video service and send me the URL via e-mail

nathan.dube@expertlaserservices.com (or twitter @dubiousmonk)

3. Videos will be reviewed by myself, our CEO and several other ELS representatives.

4. The contest ends August 31, 2011.

5. The winning video will be posted here at the Adventures in Office Imaging blog ASAP.

6. The winner will receive two free toner cartridges for your offices copier, laser printer or fax/mfp. In addition this years contest will also include a $100 dollar donation to a charity of your choice!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Joy Of The Walkaround



Here at Expert Laser Services we refer to our analysis procedure as a "walkaround". We do not utilize USB keys to do an analysis other than as a last resort and almost always walk to each and every device in an organization, networked or local and gather the necessary information by hand.

For
multiple reasons this kind of analysis is superior to that of those done with a USB key however In this post I will be speaking solely about the value of the walkaround in regards to developing relationships with customers.

All of the walkarouds that I have performed have been done either with the IT manager of an organization or a member of the IT department. In many of these cases these people are my first contact within said organization. It is the IT pro at any given organization that accompanies me through both stages of an analysis and is my "go to" guy or gal when I need to speak to them about products, services, software updates and etc.

What I have discovered to be the most important aspect of getting a contract signed is to develop a real, honest and organic relationship with the customer prior to meeting with them to discuss a proposal.

The walkaround is absolutely key in accomplishing this.

During the walkarounds that I have performed (which generally take multiple hours to complete) I take the time to learn not only about the organization, their goals, their clients, their needs, wants, expectations and so on and so forth but also about the individual who is taking time out of their day to walk me around their place of work.

From conversations with my own customers during a walkaround topics discussed have included not only their monthly print volumes and what kind of devices their fleet contains but also more personal topics such as their opinions and perspectives on

● Music

● Food

● Art

● History

● Hobbies

● Spirituality

● World Events

These are just a sample of some of the topics discussed in the conversations I have enjoyed with my customers during the walkaround.

Now these conversations may seem trivial to some however I cannot stress enough the importance of the bonds created during these times. Conversations which include not only the necessary MPS talk track dynamics but also these more organic elements of human interaction will lead to a much more robust relationship with your customer before you even schedule that meeting to discuss your proposal.

In closing I would say there has been a real element of enjoyment in all of the walkarounds I have done. They have been catalysts to meet new people and to learn not only about the needs of prospective customers but also to forge new relationships with other human beings. Some of these conversations have lead to opportunities to learn new things about my self and have spurred curiosities about things that I would not have discovered otherwise.