Upselling strategies need to address the growing end-user advantages of today's color printers and MFPs.

Ricoh Americas Corporation scored a double win this summer in two competitions sponsored by CMP Channel. Overall, the company received a VARBusiness Annual Report Card (ARC) award for partnership in the workgroup color printer category. Separately, Ann Moser, senior vice president of Ricoh's Printing Solutions Division, was selected as a "2007 VARBusiness 50 Most Powerful Women of the Channel."

In the following interview, Moser discusses how printing and imaging expertise can translate into new business opportunities, what strengths Ricoh brings to the channel, and why color will continue to be a hot area for increasing revenues.

As solution providers consider all of the technologies they might invest in—everything from desktops and laptops to software, storage, servers and peripherals—why should printers and MFPs be part of this mix?

They certainly should be part of the mix, particularly in accounts that want to take costs out of their organizations. Customers can partner with somebody who can help them contain costs, and that could translate into more business for the solution provider.

Do you think that since Ricoh has a long history on the copier side you have an advantage with solution providers that are trying to make the transition to cost-per-page strategies?

Definitely. Solution providers traditionally have left money on the table because single-function printers have been acquired mostly by outright purchase, and often the consumables didn't [follow]. So the model on the printer side has been trying to get the manufacturers to bring the acquisition price lower, but the profits are on the back end.

Copier business models are different because they're generally all inclusive. And I think where Ricoh has a big advantage is that, number one we chose not to go into retail. And our emphasis, particularly in the last five years, has been color, or we call B to C-black to color.

Another advantage is that while there's probably somebody out there that is selling re-manufactured Ricoh toner for single function printers or low end MFPs, I can't name any right now. How does that relate to a solution provider? It is rare that we discount our supplies through the channel, so there's not that compression there from the solution provider standpoint. So, solution providers can be one-stop shopping for the whole package, particularly for small businesses. SMBs can buy the equipment from the solution provider, and they don't have to go to Office Depot or someplace like that to get the consumables.

What are some of the key features of your channel program, Ricoh Rewards?

We give quarterly rebates that may be as much as 10 percent, based on purchase volumes. There are three [purchase volume] levels, the lowest being $7,500. The second is $25,000, and the highest is $75,000. That would qualify for a 10 percent rebate at the end of the quarter. We also give an upfront rebate of 5 percent. Where our program is really rich is in the demo program; we give 75 percent off.

What are the biggest trends you're seeing in the color market?

The biggest trend is color. For customers, the price has gotten to the point where you can buy a very, very good color laser printer for under $500—and that's for a very sturdy business printer. The pricing compression, although manufacturers don't like it, is terrific for the customer.

But that translates more importantly to the cost per copy. So, if you look from a customer standpoint, there's no longer this wide variance that used to exist between color and monochrome. Our lowest cost-per- print color models are probably about 6.7 cents, compared to monochrome printers at 1.3 cents. But the variance used to be 15 or 20 cents. This gives manufacturers—and solution providers in particular—the ability to go in and really help the customer become aware that color now is affordable for every day applications in their businesses. Customers can reduce assets because they don't need this one color printer and then all these other black and white printers. And color used to be very expensive and really slow. Now it's much more inexpensive and it's just as fast as black and white in many cases.

The other factor is that businesses are spending a lot of money for outsourcing their brochures or marketing requirements or training documents. And that all now can come in-house. So, thanks to affordable costs, asset reductions, and cost savings, solution providers can go out and re-educate their customers about color.