01732 759725 36 this kind of solution?’ And nine times out of ten, we’ve got something in our portfolio. It means they can add more value and keep hold of that customer for the long‑term.” Winning new business Around 35 partners have already fully embraced DSolutions and are actively winning new business. Others lean on Johnson for support on specific deals. “We’re channel-only, so partners are comfortable with me joining them on customer meetings. We can do the solutions design, build the right solution for the customer, trial it, test it, install it and train the end-user,” he explained. “It takes the pressure off the dealer needing to have that resource from day one.” For many, that support has been transformational as Paul Kamlesh, Technical Director, Copybox Document Systems explains: “Develop UK offers a great range of products and first-class aftersales support, the new solutions offering just further enhances the value to us as a dealer. “We’ve worked closely with Andy on several deals; we are now looking at solutions we had never thought about before and that’s creating new opportunities for us. Andy is by our side; he’s an extension of Copybox and his deep knowledge on the solutions side combined with our customer-centric approach to print technology, is a great fit for our clients and prospects.” “I love nothing more than seeing a reseller who’s never sold a solution partners who want to sell solutions,” he explained. “The first thing I did was look at what we were currently selling which was pretty light, filestar and a bit of PaperCut,” he added. Johnson began mapping out the growth areas and the opportunities for Develop UK’s 150-strong partner base and positioned the new DSolutions offering around three pillars: print, capture and security. Today, Develop UK software partners include Y Soft, Tungsten Automation, PaperCut, Princh (a simple public pay to print solution), Scanshare, FolderIT, filestar, Bitdefender and d.velop sign for e-signatures. Helping partners keep hold of customers One of the biggest challenges in the early days was raising awareness of what Develop UK could now offer. Johnson recalls visiting a long-standing partner who told him: ‘We had a customer the other week asking about a copier, so I sold them the copier, but they also wanted an e-signature solution and a PDF editing solution. We don’t sell them, do we?’ This, he says, is the crux of the DSolutions mission, helping partners keep customers not just for hardware, but for the wider digital ecosystem around it. “We do have those solutions in our portfolio, and the partner could have had that business as well,” he said, adding: “A lot of our partners now just email me and say: ‘Do we sell Historically, Develop UK was a hardware-centric organisation, fulfilling device orders for its partners on a next-day delivery basis. However, it recognised that a lot of resellers were looking to diversify and build solutions into their offering to combat the decline in print volumes but didn’t have any experience selling them. Johnson was brought in with a remit to build a solutions division from scratch, create a portfolio, and support partners who wanted to diversify. “I’ve been given free rein to build this arm of the business and support Solutions Sales Manager Andy Johnson joined Develop UK in September 2024, tasked with building a brand new solutions division from the ground up. 18 months in, he speaks to PrintIT Reseller about the rapid growth of DSolutions, the changing needs of the channel, and why partners must embrace solutions to future-proof their businesses Develop UK drives partner success through DSolutions SOLUTIONS Andy Johnson
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