Every rep is looking for that silver bullet they can use when the prospect tells them they’re not buying for another 24 months. What’s your plan B and plan C?
Recycling electronics is a service you can offer your customers through ARCOA. Not only does it solve a big problem for them, it’s a recurring revenue source your dealership can jump on.
Watch this episode of What’s Happenin’ to learn more about this lucrative program from Brett Apold.
ARCOA is a certified electronics recycler that offers safe and responsible processing of electronic waste, with R2:2013, ISO 14001:2015, and RIOS certifications to guarantee secure disposal of electronics. Their de-manufacturing process disassembles equipment to supply high-quality recycled materials, essential to manufacturing new products. Choosing an unreliable e-waste recycler can lead to data breaches, making ARCOA’s data destruction guarantee and audited processes for 100% product destruction within secure, certified facilities a priority for companies with sensitive data needs. With multiple certifications, including R2, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001, ARCOA meets industry best practices to protect customers’ sensitive information, making them one of the leading recyclers of e-waste in the country. Click here to learn more about ARCOA and Midwest Copier Exchange services.
SOURCE Industry Analysts Inc.
joined by Brett apold of our KOA group
how are you today Brett I’m doing great
how are you Andy I am awesome it is
great to see you where are you today
where’s where’s your own office I sit in
Florida so I work remote for for our KOA
down here in the great state of Florida
moved here last year so enjoying the
great uh winter weather here in Florida
I bet you I was just down there a couple
weeks ago it was wonderful it’s a little
colder up here in Western New York
I’ll be getting down there at uh to BTA
and I’m sure I’ll be seeing you down
there yeah absolutely I so I saw you the
last time I saw you was the executive
connection Summit we were in Arizona
uh I thought it was a great show
um which you know I think a lot of that
is being said this was a really good
show from a Content standpoint from an
attendee standpoint
um you know as being members of the
Consortium
um it’s been really good for us as our
KOA slash Midwest copier to get
visibility
um to some of those top dealers across
the country and I think just this show
just for us really felt like things are
starting to come together that the
message that we’re sharing around the
program that you and I will talk about
is starting to resonate with people and
um as you know at the show we had a we
had a really solid announcement with a
partnership with with all copy products
yes big big announcement with all copied
um so before we get into that let’s just
let’s just cover our bases um what do
you you know tell us obviously remarket
recycle relocation
sure so there’s two parts to our KOA we
were founded under Midwest copier
exchange uh where we buy and sell off
lease and Off Lease equipment copiers
printers that business has been around
for 35 years
um and then the other side of the
business is arcoa which is our
electronics recycling side so what we do
is we work with businesses to help them
um when they are end of use on their it
equipment right so if you think about
laptops and desktops networking gear
tablets cell phones Etc what are they
doing with that old equipment right I
mean it’s such a simple question to ask
everyone has used it equipment that
they’re no longer using and so what we
do is help them on a number of fronts
one is is there still value in that
equipment if there is great we can buy
that equipment from them we do a revenue
share out also making sure that their
data is secure right making sure that
all data is removed from those assets
prior to either remarketing or recycling
those assets
so I you know I was always under the
impression that you just put all of your
old laptops and cell phones and tablets
into a drawer and leave it until you die
so you’re telling me there’s a way to
actually get rid of this why you know
but you you can’t throw it out right
you’re not allowed to
um anywhere that I know of you’re not
allowed to throw it out because of the
batteries and because of the yeah inside
of these things these and what’s on
these boards it’s some of it’s toxic and
the Coatings that they use right so you
can’t just throw it out and even if you
could just throw it out you shouldn’t
just throw it out and and tell me what
why tell us obviously why did you just
throw it out well and I think it’s
interesting because I think if we look
at how we deal with I.T equipment
personally
it’s very similar to how businesses
handle it unfortunately and that is to
just put it in a storage area until
they’re forced to to get rid of it and
there’s two problems with that one
you’ve got data sitting on those devices
that you want to make sure at whatever
point you do get rid of those assets it
is destroyed wiped
um so that you know there’s no risk of
that data ending up in the wrong hands
because oftentimes a lot of those assets
do find a new home in other countries
right because there’s still value still
use in those assets and you want to make
sure that there’s no
um data sitting on those devices
other thing is a lot of acetab mercury
con you know Mercury components so you
don’t want those things to end up in
landfills you don’t want to just throw
that stuff in a dumpster is not good for
the environment and there are proper
ways to recycle that equipment and
that’s what arcoa does right we are an
R2 certified recycler we’re third party
audited every year we we follow
stringent protocols around how we handle
hard drives and data
there are a lot of recyclers out there
who will take your equipment for free
right I’ll come pick it up from you and
don’t you worry about it and you really
got to look out for that because you
really don’t know where that equipment
is going to end up
and so you’re certified at doing this
right so you pick it up
and and
what you’ve done is you’ve created a
product I mean you’re not just doing
this because you’re nice you’re doing
this because you’ve done is you’ve
created a recurring Revenue stream yeah
for your partners right so that’s that
junk sitting in my drawer that we were
just joking about
um that I can’t get rid of that I would
love for somebody to just pick up and if
they if I had to pay for it I probably
would but even if I don’t have to pay
for it if I could just give it away and
you know be done with it but no also
that it’s you know whatever’s on there
is secure and I don’t have to worry
about you know somebody can access
because you know we all know what we’ve
saved on our you know just just the
credit card information alone and you’re
buying um patterns and the fact that if
somebody accessed that and they can just
log in and and click buy buy buy and and
your accounts and you know you don’t
want to talk about that so so you’re
helping people get get away from this
and
um so this really started I would have
to imagine that you know one of the
things that got this really going was I
don’t know you must remember and I
remember and you know the older people
watching this will remember but the
younger the younger folk right you
probably don’t remember 60 Minutes
special at one of our you know one of
our partner companies that uh pulled
three random machines out and they had
Legal Information on there they had
Hospital information so this is real and
and it’s been you know probably 15 years
since the since the media went in there
but you don’t want your machines winding
up in a warehouse somewhere on a return
lease right and all of a sudden you’re a
customer and you’re and your stickers on
that machine when they’re pulling the
data off right I mean it’s all of the
manufacturers sell this overwrite stuff
but you guys take it to a to another
degree and then
once it’s destroyed is there anything
that you provide to the customer that
proves that like how do they how do they
know how do they document that this was
really
um
properly disposed yeah great question so
we do at the end of at the end of the
process we issue what’s called a
certificate of recycling so you have
proof that that equipment was properly
recycled if we audit your equipment we
provide you with a an audit of your
equipment as well as an audit of your
hard drives we’ll also issue a
certificate of Destruction on any of the
hard drives that we’ve destroyed that’s
important because as an I.T uh division
you want that documentation
um once that equipment has left your
facility so again proper documentation
and processes are are critical
so this started as copier as you’ve
evolved it into just about anything with
a hard drive anything with an
Electronics
um one of those Lithium-ion batteries
essentially because and and now you’ve
created a a
Revenue stream for for dealers so you
know as a dealer you’re going into a
customer and you’re saying look do you
have a bunch of old assets laying around
that you just don’t know how to get rid
of right that you just need you want to
get rid of and you just don’t know how
to do it and and so now you’re giving
the dealer the ability to either charge
for it or just ingratiate yourself to it
to the customer but then when they bring
this is it paid on weight how do you how
do you pay them on this right so there’s
a couple of Key Parts to it one is the
services that we provide right so we’re
doing this all behind the scenes
um we’ll go in we’ll uh there’s there’s
fees associated with audit equipment
with destroying hard drives
um if we pack the equipment right
there’s labor fees involved so there’s
the services side and then the other
side is that Revenue share on the
remarket of those assets right so if
you’ve got
100 laptops and I sell them for 50 bucks
then I give you 70 of that Revenue
um
instructions so you’re you’re
reallocating some of these assets and
yeah there’s actually money to be made
on this yes yep very cool very cool and
so tell me say the name of this program
again yeah so we call it eras so it’s
electronics recycling as a service and
the idea behind that is again offering
our services as a copier dealer to your
customers if you think about it’s a
natural extension they’re often working
with the same people that we are
connecting with who are managing the
office equipment right they’ve got the
relationships they’re in there on a
regular basis alls we’re saying is hey
when you’re in there and you’re talking
to the folks ask them a simple question
what are you doing with your old I.T
equipment
so this this is the big thing that we’ve
been talking about at last I’d say
probably last couple years now that
you’ve been you’ve been rolling this out
uh it seems very successful it gets a
lot of attention at the meetings uh
before we start talking about your big
news which for some reason I decided to
save till the end uh the other part of
your company Midwest copier exchange
tell us a little bit about that and then
I do want to get into your bigger news
yeah so you know they’re they’re the
foundation of our company
um they’ve been around for 35 years uh
the business is buying and selling Off
Lease copiers and again
there’s a there’s a remarket for those
assets that you know we provide
Downstream after we bring that equipment
in so we work with leasing companies we
work with dealers in taking the used
equipment and buying it from them and
then we turn around and sell it out so
again it’s another form of reuse of
equipment uh to help you know promote
this circular economy and make sure that
we’re continuing to get life out of used
used equipment office equipment and this
this used equipment you’re not reselling
this to end users you’re reselling this
to dealers who then so if you’re a Canon
dealer and you’ve got a customer that
just needs this one specific model and
and Canon doesn’t make that model
anymore right it’s not current you can
still possibly provide that or maybe
just something for uh you know for a
dealer that needs to do a favor for a
customer to get a unique yes so
um very very cool so focusing Switching
gears now the the real news that you
know I did want to follow developed from
the ECS conference you had a big
announcement a partnership with a top 10
dealer all all copy Brad nepper’s team
over out of Denver uh looking it’s all
over the Midwest and well the Far West I
guess really
um so tell us your big news with them
what did you guys announce at the
conference yeah so we we Inked a
partnership where they will be offering
our services to their customer base and
as you as you mentioned they’re they’re
a large dealer with a I don’t know over
10 locations
um so we’re excited because they get it
right they understand the importance of
data security they understand the
importance of helping their customer and
extending out their offering you know
it’s another tool in their toolbox and
uh we’re excited in fact tomorrow is our
our kickoff launch with the sales team
and helping uh educate them on what our
services are you know what to be looking
for you know a lot of what we’ve talked
about Andy is thinking about your high
compliance customers anybody who is in
Education Health Care Finance legal all
of them have strict data requirements
and how they handle data and those are
really great opportunities for the
services side as well as typically those
those businesses refresh their equipment
more regularly so there’s still value in
that equipment as well so it’s always
thinking about your largest customers
within your customer base and extending
out this offering to again Drive
additional revenues we have a spiff
program for the sales reps so they’re
incentivized to bring opportunities to
us right if you bring an opportunity to
me and it converts into uh to a sale
then they get they get a kicker for that
so it’s we believe it’s a really strong
program we’ve been pushing it for a
couple of years and we’ve added on you
know eight additional dealers here over
the last year and this was one that
we’re just really proud of because we
feel like we’re starting to get to that
upper echelon of dealers who
I think they’ve heard the pitch enough
and seen us enough at BTA and ECS BTA
has been great for us as well I mean
that show uh has proven for me that
consistency in attending and having a
presence there has really helped us
build this program well I I’ve said to a
lot of my partners and and you know I’ll
say it again it’s just if you want if
you want to be any if you have any
credibility in this industry you need to
be you know where the dealers are and
the one place that they’re all at is
they’re at the BTA shows and they may
not catch all four of them a year but
you know they’re going to be at some of
the shows and and the most active
dealers are heavily involved in BTA and
those are also the guys that are
involved in the cdas the sdgs the co-op
right the American Co-op so all those
groups bpca
um so it’s important and it’s such a
great access point to it and it really
is a great organization but I’m glad to
hear you you know you’re saying that I
would before we wrap up just a little a
couple more details about the training
that was really interesting to me so
yeah you know I I know that you have all
these programs because I work with you
but I don’t know what goes on behind the
scenes so when you sign someone big or
small uh like an all copied um or or
maybe a smaller company do you do this
training for everybody when you bring
them on is it always the sales reps and
you know it’s one thing to add it to the
to the pitch book right to the portfolio
but to go down to that level of
granularity to the sales reps and say
Here’s what you have here’s spiffs
here’s some free extra money you know on
your door so how does that go is it when
you do this training tomorrow is it um
are you going there or is it going to be
webinar are you gonna
to all the locations at once yeah great
question so for this for this particular
one it’s a webinar I’ve done it both
ways where I’m on site or I’ve done it
as a webinar because they’ve got so many
different locations it made more sense
to do this particular one as a webinar
but I would like to follow that up with
on-site visits to different locations
and really it’s just to educate
the sales reps and it can also be like
if you’re in the case of all copy and
you know impact networking is a customer
of ours oftentimes there’s vcios as well
right so if you’re in the managed I.T
side you’ve got these cios who really
are that day-to-day touch point with
their customers so we educate them as
well in fact we get a lot of leads from
vcios
um
so again just educating them on what to
what questions to ask what to look for
what has value what doesn’t
um the biggest thing with with this
program is that it’s very transactional
right so it’s not the the sexiest side
for it they’re not you know clamoring to
have to to want to deal with their their
old equipment
um but when if you keep asking at the
right time then the opportunity will
present yeah eventually they’re going to
want to get rid of it I mean eventually
I’m going to clean out this drawer
because
I mean why am I keeping this you know
laptop that’s 12 years old and a tablet
that that’s four generations old and I
don’t you know I can’t even give it away
anymore but I I just I just haven’t
wanted to drive to take it somewhere to
properly dispose of it and then yeah I
could wipe them properly yet and you
know it’s just a pain it’s and and
that’s just my desk and what about every
desk in the office you know for every
employee that’s been working there over
the last 10 years all the assets just
pile up and they don’t know what to do
with them I think it’s a great idea
um I love that you’re training people
because as the next rep that’s the best
thing for me to walk out the door after
you already shot me down and said you
know I’m not buying anything for you
know at least two years I’m between
leases right now well at least I turn
around and say you know I can get rid of
all this stuff for you you have stuff
yes you have a pile you have a dedicated
room of just assets you don’t know what
to do with
um we can and you know and then you’ll
help the customer maybe make a few extra
dollars too and to that point Andy it’s
been helpful with other dealers that
we’ve worked with in some of their
Market efforts it’s actually given them
an opportunity to talk to a prospect who
again may not have a need at the moment
for a printer or copier or managed I.T
but they saw your email and they reached
out to them because they had some I.T
equipment so it can help Drive leads
into prospects too I would say if I got
if I got that email right now
um I probably would schedule an
appointment at the very least come pick
my stuff up right and then by the way
you’re going to make some money on the
recycling of this hopefully it does and
now I owe you big time for helping me
and obviously when I need you know print
needs or or manage services or something
guess who I’m going to call so I love
the program love the idea
congratulations on all copy thank you
just thanks for spending some time with
me it was great seeing you yes and I
will say I look forward to seeing you
down there in uh in your neck of the
woods down in uh Sunny hopefully sunny
Florida last year last year we got kind
of hammered on on spring break if you
remember
the last day was like like the last
Chopper out of Vietnam people could not
get out of uh Orlando it was a massive
storm so hopefully the weather
cooperates a little more this year we’re
due uh but I’ll see you down there I
look forward to it thanks so much for
for taking some time with me today Brett
yeah thanks for the opportunity Andy
always good to catch up and we’ll see
you soon see you soon thank you