Performing Solutions - The UTAX Event 2007       

Report December 2007

After two years since its last occurrence, the time was nigh for UTAX to once again invite managing directors from selected German dealers and international distributors to the 4th biennial UTAX Event, which took place at the end of November.

Nearly 240 participants were greeted at Hotel Esperanto’s Convention and Cultural Centre in Fulda, Germany, where the Dealers´ and Distributors´ Conference 2007 was opened with Shakespeare’s famous words ‘All the world’s a stage’.
The night before there had been an enjoyable get-together with a lively exchange of information due to one of this year’s innovations: the German dealers and the international distributors arrived on the same day. The ‘canteen’ proved to be just the right venue for this occasion.
The next morning, the participants were received in the ‘rehearsal room’ – or the conference hall – which was equipped with all the necessary props. What soon became clear, at the very latest when theatre director and presenter Torsten Voller began quoting Shakespeare, was that this was going to be a theatrical event.
The aim was to stage a success story using UTAX writers, producers and performers, with the theatrical focus on UTAX DOCUMENT CONSULTING, in line with the event’s ‘Performing Solutions’ motto. By the end of the show, the participants should hopefully understand how to secure future business success with the help of UTAX’s sales concept.
Another innovation this year was the simultaneous interpretation provided into English, Italian and French, which replaced the previous tradition of holding the conference in English the first day and in German the next.

The play
The first ‘writer‘ welcomed on stage was UTAX Managing Director Michael Becker. He began his speech by comparing figures on developments in turnover and units of the UTAX and TA Triumph-Adler brands in the period between January and September 2007 with those for the same period last year. And naturally the market shares were also mentioned here.
Michael Becker then went into market developments and changes in more detail. Although not automatically contributing to an increase in turnover or performance, all products had decisively shaped the market of their day, beginning with the analogue systems of the past to the early digital products, all the way through to today’s digital colour machines.
The core of the speech was an emphasis on the immense importance of the page price concept UTAX CONSULTING, as well as the expansion through software solutions to UTAX DOCUMENT CONSULTING as the future growth opportunity.

Scene 1 – Competition
Accompanying director Torsten Voller on stage were three actors to help visualise the development of the play for the audience. The troupe from the Hamburg-based Steife Brise, a business and improvisation theatre, began the performance with the following scenario: a female customer, in search of the ideal partner for the future, is courted by two competing candidates. However, as both are more concerned with themselves than with the customer’s needs, neither of them is successful.

The play´s development
At this point Robert Feldmeier took the stage, with the aim of encouraging and supporting both the actors and the audience, and to help achieve the desired result. TA Triumph-Adler’s Spokesman of the Board presented a six-point plan that helped demonstrate how ideas and strategies can be used in responding to the challenges of the market. These were then heavily debated at the ensuing coffee break.

Scene 2 – The Box Mover
After the break the audience came back to find the stage reconstructed. Where the speakers had once been standing there was now a collection of cardboard boxes, hinting at the next scene. The female customer from scene one is still looking for a partner. Although she’s now found her way to a UTAX dealer, there’s no way he’s going to win her over if he continues to be too preoccupied with moving boxes. He’s not even listening to her and so she retreats, taking refuge in her ‘box-mover blues’.

Role finding – The success story, part one
To get out of this tricky situation, Harald Bönig, Sales Director Germany and Marketing Director, and Bo-Erich Krüger, Sales Director International, took the stage to talk about the implementation of UTAX DOCUMENT CONSULTING throughout Germany and exporting countries.
What became clear is that not enough UTAX dealers are currently engaged with the concept. The necessary prerequisites for successful implementation and growth opportunities were unveiled, backed up with figures on turnover and units from both areas.
In this talk too, the importance and urgency of the shift from box mover to solution provider were highlighted. Five dealers proved that this can work. After taking the necessary training sessions, they were honoured on stage as UTAX DOCUMENT CONSULTING partners. The lunch break began with this message in mind.

Scene 3 – A happy ending
Harald Bönig and Bo-Erich Krüger’s words were taken in, and the actors could therefore end the third scene happily. The UTAX dealer from scene two stops moving boxes, begins listening to his customer and makes her an offer tailored exactly to her needs. In the end, both are happy. This scene was performed a number of times showing several entertaining variations.

Perfect performance – Success stories
To give participants an even closer understanding of what had just been presented on stage, the next item on the agenda was a panel discussion with three managing directors of German UTAX dealers who have already successfully implemented UTAX CONSULTING.
Martin Schiller (CLS faxen & kopieren Vertriebs GmbH, Bielefeld), Johannes Schmeh (compend GmbH, Schramberg-Sulgen) and Andreas Sesselmann (Kipp + Poffo Centrum für’s Büro, Kulmbach) recalled their personal experiences with the concept, spoke about particular difficulties at the beginning and the importance of endurance and patience, and ultimately underlined the advantages of implementation for the individual dealers.

The success story, part two
After speaking extensively about concepts and those who implement them, it was time to deal with the products themselves. The stage curtains were drawn open for this final scene.
Harald Bönig introduced the audience to the product line-up for the coming year, demonstrated a few of the new systems’ highlights and spoke about the support for dealers being offered by the UTAX marketing department.
He also presented plans for the intended regional dealer meetings, which are to take place in yearly rotation with the dealers´ conference from 2008. The regional events are to ensure that personal contact between dealers continues even when participation at CeBIT was abandoned.
These were the final words of a successful performance. The screenplay had been written, the roles found, the accounts of successful implementation in practice and new products all told. After the actors’ final performance, the ‘Performing Solutions’ song, the audience moved on to the ‘canteen’.
In the meantime, an in-house exhibition had been set up here, giving further opportunity for role studies. At a total of seven displays, participants could explore products and other offers from UTAX in a relaxed atmosphere. Topics on UTAX Leasing and personnel recruitment and training were just as much on display as software solutions from subsidiary UTAX DocForms GmbH.

The star gala
Following a creative break, the evening’s star gala began. In this celebratory mood the best performers – the most successful dealers – were honoured on stage. The drumming performance from the ensemble ‘Drum Conversation’ provided the right mood for the evening. And the duo ‘Feeding the Fish’ had some spectacular juggling feats to show. Later on, the band ‘White Orange’ supplied ample party atmosphere, well into the night.
The UTAX Event 2007 had clearly shown participants that – with UTAX on their side – they are perfectly equipped for the future and that the UTAX DOCUMENT CONSULTING sales concept will surely guarantee them long-term success.


UTAX GmbH
Ohechaussee 235
22848 Norderstedt/Germany
Nicole Bönig, Public Relations
Tel.: +49 (0) 40 / 5 28 49-2 20
Fax: +49 (0) 40 / 5 28 49-2 33