Print.IT Reseller - issue 51

PRINT IT RESELLER.UK 43 VOX POP turn to for other solutions, our experience is that customers who have a trusted partnership with their supplier are more likely to turn to them for other additional parallel services or solutions rather than make the decision based on the exact service you supply. The feedback from our customers is that IT suppliers more often than not are viewed as service brokers rather than solution providers as the majority of services they supply are outsourced with no real ownership of any issues or service levels.” www.ncs-ltd.com Kevin Thomas, Group Sales Director, Pinnacle Complete Office Solutions “As a result of the meteoric rise of electronic documents, we have developed a value proposition that incorporates both workflow automation and app development. We have these capabilities in-house and customers are now starting to regard us as trusted advisors in these areas. In addition we have also developed a D-a-a-S proposition (Device as a Service) which enables us to utilise our IT hardware skills and continue to develop our capabilities as an IT services provider. “Customers already value our technical know-how when it comes to electronic documents. It’s a small step to extend that expertise to mobile devices and solutions with a flexible subscription-based payment model.” www.pinnaclecos.co.uk Mark Smyth, Chief Operating Officer, Vision “Vision has been delivering a form of IT Services for some years as part of and in addition to its core offering of Managed Printing and Managed Document Services, and this is more prevalent where we have a trusted client partnership. “We are seeing clients with a strong desire to move towards a streamlined supplier model and preferred partner model and it’s all about building client trust, backed up with the capabilities to deliver and competitiveness. Once you demonstrate these key components as part of the trust model, clients willingly engage with and rely on our wider services offering and these extend to some hardware, software solutions and cloud based services and audio visual. “Another valuable lesson learned, is knowing when to say no, and that’s about setting some clear boundaries around what you can and cannot deliver and having the right vendors and supply chain where you may be relying on their support services. Get this wrong and it can potentially create risk with your client partnership and also commercial risks too!” www.visionplc.co.uk David Lees, CSR & Marketing Director, ABS “Over the last four years, ABS has embarked on a three-pronged go-to- market approach: n The acquisition of IT support providers and print/document solution providers; n The internal growth of print/document solutions as portfolio products; n The gradual expansion of the ABS solution portfolio into, for example, GDPR (security and document storage for example) in response to customer need. “Over the next 12 months you will see an acceleration of the acquisition programme and continued expansion of our portfolio to meet the needs of our customers and SMBs who look for total solution providers.” www.absabetterway.co.uk Toni Gibiino, Marketing Director, ABC Managed Business Solutions “We fully concur with the findings of Quocirca’s report. The study is absolutely accurate in terms of the SME mindset. Today, pure copier resellers don’t have the integrity with the business, it’s a legacy issue in many instances. “At ABC, we have long recognised changing buyers’ requirements and as a result have completely changed our go to market approach to address this. We know that tech people want to speak to tech people – not sales people that have a single focus. It’s more than simply shifting towards a consultative-led sales approach – moving away from talking feeds and speeds and the headline cost – it’s about talking the IT managers’ language, understanding their business problems and having the ability to propose and deliver a solution that ticks all of their boxes. “We have up-skilled and augmented our team, employing specialists in different markets ensuring we have the skill set to deliver solutions that meet customers’ needs today and tomorrow. “When we engage with prospects – we don’t talk print. As a managed service provider we believe our role is to deliver solutions that address all of our clients’ technology needs – providing them with a value-add, one-stop service and, choice. “We have completely refreshed our offer, adding to our traditional portfolio of printing devices and associated software solutions. We recently launched ABC Connect, a new suite of IT services packages designed to enable businesses to enhance their printer, MFD and copier functionality beyond the click and copy function. This unique offer gives clients the value-add they need and want, and it’s all packaged in a transparent way. “And, ABC is just about to acquire an IT service company bringing the skills/ knowledge and process in house. This will heighten our ability to go to market and intelligently speak to prospects and clients about their requirements beyond the box.” www.abcmanagedservices.uk We are seeing clients with a strong desire to move towards a streamlined supplier model and preferred partner model ...continued Kevin Thomas Toni Gibiino Mark Smyth