01732 759725 26 MR: Moving onto the industrial labelling sector, another area that Brother is very strong in. What’s the opportunity here for channel partners, and how can they leverage your broader offering to expand into new verticals or add value to existing customers? GM: The adding value is really important. So, we’ve got our traditional partners and they may be supplying print to end customers in areas I’ve already mentioned such as retail and healthcare, but we’ve also got our Auto ID partners, and we’re having a really big push in there. Brother has always been known for labelling, for our electrical labellers and our network installing labellers, and we’ve got a really good proposition within that space. We’re quite new to Auto ID, so we’re doing a big push to recruit more partners into that Auto ID space. Partners who are specifically looking at that world, and that includes things like industrial labellers. We’ve just launched new products our TJ-6 lineup, and that puts us into that 6-inch labelling for packaging market, for logistics packaging and logistics labelling. We’ve got a broad product lineup from industrial labelling through to receipt and labelling and all the way into office print. So, we’ve got a complete end-to-end solution. So not only are there opportunities for partners within the Auto ID world, where we’re trying to recruit and build that channel, we’ve also got opportunities for our traditional partners within the IT reseller area, where they can expand their knowledge of our products, and expand that opportunity, where they may be providing print, but can also add additional labelling within those customers. MR: So, there are cross-selling opportunities for both channels? GM: That’s exactly it. We’ve already MR: You have a comprehensive SoHo and office lineup across colour and mono A4, laser and inkjet. At the recent MPS partner event, the team spoke about balanced deployment, can you explain what you mean by this and how this approach can help partners to differentiate in competitive bids and better meets customers’ needs? GM: When we’re talking balanced deployment, that is a really good opportunity for the OA channel and for partners sitting within that area. Because we’re seeing the shift from A3, balanced deployment allows end customers to put the machines where they’re needed, so they’re nearer to the end-users, and that improves the workflow. It improves efficiency as well. Customers’ A3 devices aren’t getting clogged up with jobs, endusers can get their print jobs from where they need them, and we’re seeing cost efficiencies from that as well. This comes from our experience within retail and healthcare, and we’re able to introduce that balanced deployment model across other organisations and other industry sectors as well. MR: So, Brother’s A4 lineup can actually complement a channel partner’s existing offering. If they’re offering another vendor’s A3 device they can bring in the Brother A4 products to create that balanced deployment that customers now need and demand? GM: Yes, that’s where we’re really seeing the opportunity, and we’re hearing really positive feedback from the OA channel around that balanced deployment, and how that’s meaning that they are not leaving opportunity on the table. They’ve got those opportunities to do that balanced deployment, increase efficiency and cost savings for the end customer. Michelle Ryder (MR): Brother is actively onboarding new partners in the OA channel. Why now? What’s driving the channel recruitment initiative and how can Brother help resellers win more managed print business? Greig Millar (GM): We have only just started to become more relevant to resellers within the OA space and traditional copier dealers. We’re seeing a shift in the marketplace where the requirement for a large departmental machine is becoming less and less, and customers are looking for a more distributed print environment for A4 workgroup. And we’ve now got a relevant proposition for partners. We’re helping those partners by creating a brand new MPS business partner program. We’ve been really successful, to date, we’ve recruited 36 new partners and we’re offering them benefits such as a five-year warranty, exclusive products and exclusive consumables. So, we’ve really got a complete package, including rebates and promotions for the end customer and for partners as well. In an exclusive interview with PrintIT Reseller, Greig Millar, CRO of Brother UK explains why Brother is actively recruiting new partners in the OA channel and how resellers can grow their managed print business. He highlights Brother’s leadership in sustainability as the only OEM remanufacturing both inkjet and laser cartridges, expands on opportunities for resellers within the industrial labelling sector, and outlines current marketing priorities including promotions, designed to drive partners’ growth One-to-one with Greig Millar ONE-TO-ONE Greig Millar
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDUxNDM=