Print.IT Reseller - issue 53

26 01732 759725 PARTNER PROGRAMME Canon has launched the new channel programme to support partners facing new business challenges. Importantly, the company has listened to its resellers, using direct partner feedback to revamp the programme to best fit their needs in what is a challenging and evolving marketplace. “The way we collate feedback is through an annual partner survey, which we re-introduced and have run over the last couple of years,” Pittick explained, adding: “This enables us to listen to direct feedback from our partner community across EMEA, to really understand the areas where we are performing well as a business partner and identify where we can improve or deliver better value to the relationships.” He continued: “We take positive feedback around the things we are doing well and make sure that we have plans in place to develop and keep delivering those elements. Critically, we look within the areas where we have feedback that suggests we could improve on performance, and it’s that that really has been the underpinning factor for us to re-energise and revamp our partner programme going forward.” Total redesign The new partner programme has been a redesign from the ground up. Previously Canon had a number of smaller programmes based on the products its partners sold. “We had specific programmes for resellers selling large format, graphics printing or office printing,” Pittick explained. “From the feedback, what we’ve done is look at how our partners want to grow their business over the coming years and how we can put together a programme that delivers the real benefits they are asking for in areas such as demand generation, marketing support and probably most importantly, enabling the right access to the other technologies in the Canon portfolio.” Canon’s portfolio provides up-sell and cross-sell opportunities for partners with an appetite to diversify into new areas. “Proactive joint business planning is a fundamental element of the new partner programme,” Pittick said, adding: “Rather than just open up the door to the sweet shop for want of a better expression, what we will do is sit down and properly plan, collaboratively with our partners, to understand how they could utilise the other technologies in our portfolio to expand and diversify their business. “It might be expanding into an adjacent market where we have a complementary technology, or one where we have the skills to support them, enabling them to make that transition. Alternatively, it may be a change in technology which, through the right learning and development support, will provide partners with the opportunity to sell more to existing office printing On June 7 at The Oval in London, Canon announced the relaunch of its EMEA channel partner programme. PrintIT Reseller spoke to Director of B2B Indirect Sales, James Pittick, to find out more about the company’s strategy to grow its B2B channel business Canon designs new partner programme customers – that could be information management or production print for example.” Growth in channel business Helping partners develop, manage and optimise growth opportunities and expand into new markets, is in-built into Canon’s strategy for channel growth. “Broadly speaking at EMEA level over the mid-term what we’re looking to do is take our current channel performance which contributes about 25 per cent of the overall business to 35 per cent,” Pittick said. “What we don’t want to do is shift or decline our direct business, we want to grow both direct and indirect in a complementary way, so this would essentially be net growth.” There are a number of areas where Canon recognises huge opportunity for growth within the channel. Market sizing and segmentation insight will help its partners to quantify these opportunities, while maximising coverage and penetration. “The majority of our channel business today is made up of traditional print and copier reseller businesses. We have a really loyal base with some partners who have been with us for 25-30 years, however, because of the convergence of technology and the advent of digital, the Proactive joint business planning is a fundamental element of the new partner programme