A rebranding, a diverse product offering, and a family foundation have Pulse Technology and its President Chip Miceli well positioned to compete today and far into the future.
presented by LEAF Commercial Capital
Above: Pulse Technology hosted 2019’s “Office of the Future Event” at its Chesterton, IN, location.
Hands-on CTO Gerard Iannuzzelli preps a Sharp Smart Board for “Office of the Future” event demonstrations.
Chip Miceli, president of Pulse Technology, is at his company’s office in Chesterton, Indiana, the day before its “The Office of the Future” open house. He just completed a radio interview about the event, and he’s ready for his next interview””the one with The Cannata Report.
That’s the thing about Miceli. He’s always amenable to sharing his opinions about anything related to the independent dealer channel and imaging industry. He was one of the first dealers to hire a public relations firm. Little wonder he’s the most quoted dealer in the channel.
If he’s not talking to the press, you’ll find him on a panel at a vendor or BTA conference, or leading a discussion at his dealer peer group. “This industry has been good to me and I believe it’s my job to give back,” said Miceli. “I meet a lot of dealers struggling with technology or print management. If I can help someone grow their business or a way to get there, [I want to do that].”
The Name Change Game
Miceli has been in the industry for more than 40 years, most of it with Des Plaines Office Equipment (DPOE), recently rebranded as Pulse Technology. The rebranding was necessary, explained Miceli, because the old name was dated and didn’t describe all that the company offered to customers. Acquisitions of McShane’s, Kramer & Leonard, and Indiana Mailing, three Indiana-based companies, as well as others, helped drive that change, as did Miceli’s brother and Pulse Vice President Victor, who never liked the name DPOE.
“The new name has created a lot of buzz,” stated Miceli. “People calling up, asking, “˜Why the name change?’ We got so much free press about it that it was unbelievable. We’ve done two radio shows so far. I can’t wait for my third.”
The Office of the Future
There’s more to Miceli than serving as unofficial spokesperson for the dealer channel. He’s a successful businessman who enjoys teaching his old customers and prospects new tricks, hence, “The Office of the Future” open house. His goal with this event was to give people a vision of the future and maybe sell a few products from the company’s extensive menu of offerings as well.
Sharp’s Smart Office offering was a prominent talking point at recent Sharp road shows. When Miceli was searching for a theme for the open house, the light bulb turned on while at Sharp’s Chicago road show, especially since Pulse is selling Sharp’s Smart Office Suite.
Miceli doesn’t view diversification as a dirty word. He views it as an opportunity. Pulse casts a wide net with the many products, solutions, and services it offers. Over the course of its history, the focus has consistently been on copy or print management with 90% of the business tied to print and print management, service, and printer supplies. The other 10% is managed services, which includes video boards and phone systems.
Pulse has done well with phone systems. Many customers have outdated phone systems, and Pulse is at the ready to bring them into the 21st century with the latest VoIP and cloud-based phone systems.
“It’s a no brainer,” said Miceli. “We’re growing pretty quickly with that product.”
Interactive boards are also doing well, mostly because it’s a product that Pulse’s salespeople “can demonstrate the heck out of,” according to Miceli.
Perhaps Pulse’s biggest success is print management, or MPS if you will. The company has been offering print management for 15 years, and Miceli credits it with helping Pulse survive the financial crisis because even though customers weren’t buying new equipment, it had customers under contract still paying them every month to manage their prints.
While print and managed services account for most of Pulse’s revenues in Illinois, in Indiana, office supplies and furniture represent 40% of revenues, copiers and service 40%, IT 10%, and another 10%, which Miceli described as a hodgepodge that includes mailing equipment.
Miceli is candid about what segments of the business need improvement such as managed services. That has been an ongoing challenge, although it seems like Pulse has found a model for success. Pulse now serves more as a consultant, even on software, and has a better understanding of the client’s infrastructure and how to support it.
“Years ago, we just put whatever they had on our program, and we struggled because it was stuff my call center didn’t understand,” recalled Miceli. “Now we just have a stack and do rip and replace. Most [managed IT] accounts have computers that are eight, 10, 15 years old. It’s easy to go in and say, “˜It’s time for new technology.'”
The biggest challenge has been document management. Pulse has partnered with an array of document management companies over the years, and placements have been modest at best. But that doesn’t mean Miceli has given up. The goal is to eventually get it right because after all, Pulse is still in a document-oriented business.
Learning Mode
The acquisitions of two companies in Indiana, McShane’s and Kramer & Leonard, now rebranded under the Pulse Technology name, have added office supplies and furniture to the Pulse product mix, at least in Indiana. Prior to those acquisitions, Miceli knew next to nothing about supplies and office furniture, but he’s learning fast. He has no choice, the furniture business is going strong while the supplies business, believe it or not, is holding its own, even with competition from the office superstores.
“People are making money, so they’re buying a lot of office furniture right now,” noted Miceli. “New modern looking furniture is all the rage, and a lot of the interest is driven by the younger generation who like the new sit-to-stand desks.”
A sit-to-stand desk allows users to alternate between sitting and standing by raising or lowering the work platform. By alternating between sitting and standing, it is believed that users can vary their body position more often, which is reportedly a healthier way to work.
He recalled a visit to a credit union that needed to replace their “vintage” traditional desks. When the Pulse rep saw all the young people in the office, he saw an opening to introduce them to sit-to-stand desks.
In the meantime, he’s looking to grow the furniture and supplies segments of business in Illinois and has hired someone to take the lead on those two product categories.
Status Report
As of mid-May, Miceli reported that business has been solid.
He attributes this to the press Pulse has received, which has raised the company’s profile in the business community. It’s still a challenging business climate. In Illinois, businesses are either selling or closing, but as quick as Miceli is losing customers because of closures, he’s gaining new ones. That’s saying something because he has some formidable competition in Illinois.
Why does someone select Pulse over a competitor?
“Because of the people that work for me,” responded Miceli. “We take care of our customers. We go to the next level with them. Here, in Indiana, we do desktop delivery. We do designs for them. We do assessments for them. We do a lot of things that other people charge for. We don’t charge for those things.”
In Illinois, the focus is on service and providing a better solution.
“We teach our salespeople not to sell boxes, but to talk to the customer and learn about their issues,” emphasized Miceli. “Then, we figure out where we can help them. We’re more consultants than salespeople.”
Has it become easier to teach sales reps to do that?
“No, I don’t think so,” replied the ever-candid Miceli.
Not for Sale
In this acquisition-crazy climate, Miceli has no plans to cash out. He’s still having too much fun. Anyone who has seen him at an industry event during the day or after hours can testify to that. But he fully understands why more dealers are selling.
“If you don’t have kids in the business to take over, this is probably the best time to sell,” he said. “With all the people buying today, you’re going to get top buck for your business. There’s a lot of intriguing propositions out there.”
Fortunately, for Miceli, he has family in the business. Besides his brother, his two sons””Vince and Paul””and his daughter Nicole work at Pulse.
The family dynamic is interesting and challenging, and Miceli has put in place a framework for success in working with his children.
“None work directly for me,” he quipped. “Our managers interview them and hire them if they want them. When they take the job, they say, “˜Oh, I got the job.’ I say, well, your last name is Miceli so that means you have to work harder than everybody or go somewhere else and work.”
As for his brother Victor, their relationship is as you would expect in any family.
“We have our good days and our bad days,” Miceli replied. Never one to miss a beat, Miceli deadpanned, “I haven’t seen him today, so it’s a good day.”
Although he’s not going anywhere anytime soon, he shares his vision for the future of Pulse.
“I hope it continues to grow after I’m gone,” said Miceli. “I hope one of my kids will be the one to bring it to the next level. We are on track to be a provider to an organization from soup to nuts. I’d like to go into an account and say, you don’t have to worry about your office environment anymore, we’re going to handle it. You go out and sell your widgets or whatever you do best at and let me handle it. That is the future of an organization like ours. If my kids can run it that way, we’ll be very successful.”
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