[PrintOwners] Dealers vs. Going Direct

[Steve Blatman]

We dealt directly with KM, via the NAQP pricing deal. A dealer 
offered to match the pricing, so I asked him what I considered the 
most important question.

"The national deal is $.0x per click, with all sizes counted as one 
click. Will that be enough for you to give us the level of service we 
will need, or will we end up with you not able to service us because 
you're losing money on us?"

In my case, that led to an honest discussion, which concluded with 
them telling me that, no, they couldn't service the machine for that 
amount of money, unless I was willing to go to double clicks for 
11x17 over an agreed-upon monthly volume.

The last thing you want to do is to put a dealer, upon whose service 
you depend, in the position of losing money on that service. It won't 
be good for you, the dealer, the manufacturer, or your customer.

JMO,
Steve


> 
> It has often puzzled me that when dealing with copier companies you can 
> either deal directly with the company (Xerox, Konica Minolta, Canon) or 
> at least in some cases go through what I guess is a dealer 
> (distributor?). This has happened to us a couple of times and I find it 
> rather confusing.
> 
> In this particular situation I am starting the process of looking at 
> some Konica Minolta copier equipment. In our area I have 2 ways I can go 
> as stated previously. Interestingly enough they are both located in 
> Totowa, NJ at different addresses. At this point I figure I can play one 
> against the other, however the bigger issue to me is who will offer me 
> the best service. Cost of equipment and clicks doesn't mean a whole lot 
> when I have to wait 24 hours or more for a service call as often happens 
> with Canon who I am currently with.
> 
> Have any others had similar experiences and what did you discover in the 
> process?
> 
> Mark
> 
> Mark Cordes
> 
> Cordes Printing, Inc.
> 460 Braen Avenue
> Wyckoff, NJ 07481
> 
> 201.652.7272
> 
> mark at cordesprinting.com
> 
> www.cordesprinting.com
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Steve Blatman
Ink Spot Printing & Copy Center, Inc.
14 Church Road, Frazer, PA 19355 USA
Tel: 610-647-0776
Fax: 610-647-4560