Ricoh Family Group Dealers Report Early Success in Selling Services Through ChaMPS Program

WEST CALDWELL, N.J., July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh Americas Corporation dealer partners across the country are reporting that they are successfully expanding their businesses by reselling Ricoh business information services.

The Ricoh ChaMPS program has given Ricoh, Savin and Lanier dealers a powerful menu of IT and professional services to offer to new and existing customers. With ChaMPS, the dealers have added more capabilities to their portfolio of offerings without the infrastructure startup costs required to create services from scratch.

"We use Ricoh to support and augment the solutions we market directly to our clients," said Dexter Loeble, Senior Marketing Director, Edwards Business Systems, in Scranton, Pa. "We are able to offer extended services and have confidence in their ability to scale as demand grows. We have learned over the years that Ricoh is a great partner and are very comfortable working together on client engagements."

Loeble and other dealers participated in a panel discussion at the Ricoh Convergence 2012 dealer event last month in Las Vegas, a year after Ricoh launched ChaMPS in Orlando. The program equips dealers to outsource Ricoh services such as:

• On-site professional services, including information capture, workflow, distribution
• Project management services
• Commercial imaging services, and
• IT services for proactive network monitoring and management

"These Ricoh managed services enable our dealers to expand their product offerings without startup and acquisition costs," said Jim Coriddi, Vice President, Dealer Division, Ricoh Americas Corp. "The services also differentiate our dealers from their traditional copier/printer-only competitors. Customers benefit from the tighter relationship with the dealership, no longer needing multiple vendors to meet their business information services requirements."

All in the Ricoh family
Unlike organizations that provide ad hoc solutions to dealer channels through acquisition, Ricoh has built and delivered its services portfolio from within. Ricoh's services professionals are already a part of the company; understand the strategy, culture and business needs of the dealers; and can deliver through an infrastructure that is already in place. Ricoh believes delivering services from within will strengthen the bond between the manufacturer and dealer as well. 

"In a small market, it helps to be all things to all customers," said Chap Breard, owner of Monroe Office Equipment, Monroe, La. "Over the years, we have spent a lot of money trying to get into the software business with varying results; we were tired of spending the money. I now retain the customers and control the piece of the pie I'm best at. In the future, we may learn to do it ourselves, but today Ricoh gets us into the game quickly and confidently."

For more information on Ricoh's full line of products, services and solutions, please visit www.ricoh-usa.com.   

| About Ricoh |
Ricoh is a global technology company specializing in office imaging equipment, production print solutions, document management systems and IT services. Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group operates in more than 200 countries and regions. In the financial year ending March 2012, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of 1,903 billion yen (approx. 23 billion USD).

The majority of the company's revenue comes from products, solutions and services that improve the interaction between people and information. Ricoh also produces award-winning digital cameras and specialized industrial products. It is known for the quality of its technology, the exceptional standard of its customer service and sustainability initiatives.

Under its corporate tagline, imagine. change. Ricoh helps companies transform the way they work and harness the collective imagination of their employees.

For further information, please visit
www.ricoh.com/about/

© 2012 Ricoh Americas Corporation. All rights reserved. All referenced product names are the trademarks of their respective companies.

Contact:

Linda Montefusco
Ricoh Americas Corporation
(973) 882-2172
[email protected]

Jill Searl
Brodeur Partners
(603) 559-5824
[email protected]

SOURCE Ricoh Americas Corporation