When Sound Inc. noticed that more of its customers were shifting away from owning their own hardware, Steve Kocimski, director of sales at Sound Inc. in Naperville, IL, knew it was time to rethink how the company positions its equipment and service offerings. “Whether it be hosted voice or cloud computing, customers have the mindset Read the full article…
When it comes to RMR, we aren’t where we need to be. Our recent Financial Analysis of the Industry report reveals that the percentage of revenue from recurring sales has been dropping since 2010, reaching a historical low point of 10.83%. The report also indicates, however, that most profitable and top-quartile companies consistently rely on Read the full article…
As we transition from being “contractors” to “integrators,” and now on to becoming solutions providers, we also transition from capex (capital expense) to opex (operating expense) purchasing methods. Technology evolution, combined with IT-centric solutions and buying decisions being made by IT vs. facilities management departments, leads to opex purchasing methods being favored in many cases. Read the full article…
Over the next few months, we’ll take an inside look at how the NSCA 2018 Excellence in Business award winners have adapted to our constantly changing industry. The story of Tech Electronics is next on the list. For its ability to stay ahead of the curve, Tech Electronics was named an NSCA 2018 Excellence in Business award Read the full article…
If a customer asks you about financing, do you have a plan? Inteconnex – an NSCA integrator member based in Cedar Rapids, IA – was working closely with its client, Strategic Print Solutions, a print management company in nearby Hiawatha, on a complete upgrade to its IT infrastructure, totaling approximately $120,000 in equipment. To avoid Read the full article…
Many of the most successful RMR salespeople we know talk in monthly payments from the very start of a sales conversation. When a customer asks them to quote a price on a technology system, the monthly payment is presented – not the overall cost of the system. Taking this approach isn’t beneficial only for you Read the full article…
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with the NSCA team and some of their members. What stands out the most to me is that NSCA members are unlike a lot of other companies GreatAmerica works with. GreatAmerica started financing copiers 25 years ago, but has Read the full article…
Rejoining the NSCA staff nearly 11 months ago (after a 10-year stint with AtlasIED) has given me a great opportunity to reconnect with systems integrators and other leaders on the key business issues facing our industry. (At AtlasIED, I was focused on export sales. International business is based on distributor relationships in certain regions or Read the full article…
Not long ago, the goal for most NSCA integrator members was to bid/win, complete jobs on time, get paid, and move on to the next project. We could make plenty of money doing that, and we knew exactly how to do it. Today, however, the new normal for systems integrators has become building recurring revenue Read the full article…
Just when we thought we had it all figured out, the annual Pivot to Profit conference caused us to take a serious look at the integration business model – again. Business as usual is basically gone: That’s what we heard from groups of integrators as they participated in conversations, listened to presenters, and looked toward Read the full article…
