A document-solutions veteran sees opportunities in today's harsh business climate.

Now that economic times are tough, does it make sense to realign your high-volume hardware sales model to one that relies on selling solutions, or wait for better times? The answer is to act now - margins and competition will only get worse in years ahead, says Darrell Amy, president of Prospect Builder, a marketing consulting firm for resellers that specialize in printers, multifunction products (MFPs), managed print services and workflow solutions.

In the following interview, Amy also tells solution providers how to refashion their sales messages during economic downturns and offers ways to keep the sales staff happy even when they must learn new techniques.

Q: What advice can you offer solution providers for weathering today's volatile economic environment?

A: In many ways document solutions is a recession-proof business. When things are good, we're helping companies improve their infrastructure and their business processes. When things are bad, we're helping them reduce their cost structure, automate business processes and streamline their operations. The value proposition of document solutions becomes even more relevant in an economic slowdown.

Q: Do most end users see things this way, or does it take some selling finesse to get that message across?

A: It certainly takes finesse. The sales message should center on repositioning document management as an overhead expense-reduction strategy and a means for process automation to help a company survive a tough economy. Let's face it, the biggest part of any company's cost structure is people. So if a company can automate some of its core business processes and do more with the people it has (or cope with the unfortunate situation of layoffs), document solutions can mean doing more with less.

Q: The other side of the coin is: If I'm a reseller that's been relying primarily on hardware sales, is this a good time to make the transition to solutions selling? Or should I wait until the downturn is over?

A: The best time to have made that transition would have been a couple years ago when things were going great. However, if you look at future trends for profit margins in hardware, the reality is that it's important to do something right now.

Q: What are the challenges when making that transition now, and how can solution providers address them?

A: There are several challenges. From a marketing standpoint, hardware providers face a challenge in how the market sees them. Sometimes, there's a big disconnect on the customer's side when a company starts calling on the customer with document solutions - the first response many times is, "Hey, wait. I thought you were a hardware provider." So it's very important for a company to make a concerted, long-term effort to reposition itself. That usually begins with changing the foundation marketing materials, such as brochures, presentations and Web sites, to make sure those materials include information on solutions.

On an ongoing basis, solution providers should make an effort to continually push that message to clients - here's what we're doing now, here's why you should care and here's how you can benefit. So over a period of years the company repositions itself as a credible source for solutions.

Q: What other issues should solution providers watch out for?

A: There are similar challenges with the sales staff. Typically, seasoned salespeople see themselves as hardware reps and have built a nice career around that. From the owner's perspective, you don't want them to change dramatically. So it becomes a delicate balancing act to reposition the sales team. My experience has been that the most effective way to do that is to convince them that solutions selling is much less technical than they ever expected it to be.

The key to selling document solutions is all about going in and having a commonsense conversation with the business owner about his or her business problems. I'm asked all the time whether a hardware person can sell solutions. If that means, "Can he or she sell software to a technical person?" the answer probably is no. But can that guy or gal have a conversation about business problems with nontechnical buyers, who represent 70 percent of the marketplace? You bet they can. In fact, in some ways it's easier than selling hardware.

The biggest danger is that if we alienate salespeople in the transition to solutions, we're going to be in a lot of trouble.

Q: What's the trick to not alienating sales reps who are hardware oriented?

A: All sales reps have heard the call to sell solutions. They've probably been to dozens of training classes over the years. So the question is, Why aren't they selling software? The answer is twofold. One, they don't believe they can do it - that it's going to be way too technical for them. Second, they don't believe their customers are going to buy the solution. So their silent protest in not selling solutions proves they're not able to sell them.

The real key to winning the hearts and minds of hardware reps is to ask them what challenges they're facing. As I talk to reps, I hear the same concerns - how do we get through to top-level decision makers, how do we differentiate ourselves from the competition and how do we make profit in a commoditized market? The answer comes from asking reps what business they're in.

When you boil it all down, a hardware provider is in the document business. You begin to realize that when you streamline the flow of documents, you help companies increase profits, improve competitive advantage and customer service, and comply with government regulations. With that slight reframing of what business you're in, you move from the copy room to the boardroom. By reframing your message, you can be more relevant in your customers than you've ever been have before.

Q: Finally, are there opportunities to sell document solutions within the broader context of other managed services, such as storage and networking?

A: Absolutely. In fact, it's been interesting to me, as I've been working with several VARS that are extremely interested in the document solutions space. The companies that sell the infrastructure - the servers, the routers, the switches - are in the exact same place as the people who sell printers and multifunction systems. They're all in a commodity market; they need to have a value proposition that gets attention; and they need a solution that also helps them promote hardware sales. Certainly, document management solutions are going to encourage storage sales as part of the solution.