01732 759725 48 Q&A Q: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing channel businesses today? A: We are seeing an ageing workforce in the industry, especially from the technical side and specifically, engineers. Skilled technicians that have been in the industry since starting their careers working on analogue devices, are now coming up to retirement age. There are not that many young engineers entering the industry, most have chosen to go into IT-led roles, we need to make this an attractive career choice so we get a steady stream of youngsters coming through for the future. Q: Which OEMs do you partner with and why? A: We have worked with Lexmark since 2010 as a BSD partner and we know the products inside out. We are also a Canon partner, the true image quality is exceptional on Canon’s products from office MFPs through to their production print devices. Q: What are your customers most interested in currently? A: Quality, reliable service. Our customers tell us that they prefer the face-to-face personal touch and their preference is to speak to technicians directly, instead of booking a ticket and waiting for a call. Q: How have you changed/are you changing business operations to exploit new opportunities? A: We are an ’old-fashioned’ business with old-fashioned values and we have tried to keep the status quo. So many things have changed in our industry, things like suppliers dropping ultra-low cost per copy levels combined with rising costs, is not sustainable in the long-term. Cloud software, security and AI are definitely hot topics at the moment. Our OEM partnerships mean we have a strong offering, in particular with UniFLOW which is compatible with both Canon and Lexmark devices. Q: When selling MFPs, what are the most popular software solutions you provide and why? A: When we sell Lexmark MFPs, we would offer Lexmark cloud print management solutions and for Canon, we offer UniFLOW which is also compatible with Lexmark devices, it ultimately comes down to what is the best fit for the customer. Q: If you could change one aspect of your job, what would it be and why? A: Since my sister Kelly and I have taken over running the business from our late father, we have had to juggle family life around quite significantly as we both have young children. It’s very difficult to switch off, as the business is another baby that needs looking after. Q: How do you spend your week – time on phone, face to face meetings with customers etc.? A: I spend the majority of my time behind a desk answering emails and telephone calls. I still love to visit customers face-to-face; I have always enjoyed that part of the job dating back to when I started out as a copier engineer. Q: What would make your job easier? A: More time would be number one for sure. It would also be easier if customers weren’t just looking for the cheapest price instead of looking at quality service and longevity. But I think this is starting to change now, the people I speak to would rather pay that little bit more to ensure they receive great service. I know I would. Mike Trotter, Director, Office Technology Corporation View from the channel Mike Trotter www.officetechnologycorporation.co.uk
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