Print.IT Reseller - issue 57

01732 759725 46 HOT TOPIC is definitely at the higher end of their product portfolios with greater rewards for resellers aligned to their strategic plans,” he said. “The print industry is facing increasing pressures and margins are constantly being challenged,” commented Russell Long, UK, Ireland and Nordics Channel Business Manager at RISO UK. “For some, this is a negative and many businesses do struggle. However, it has also presented opportunities for new technologies to thrive, particularly when businesses remain agile in approach.” Long added: “It is worth noting that RISO products are truly unique in the market, with genuine USPs. This means that RISO partners can and do benefit from higher margins through RISO solutions, particularly when customers realise the total cost of ownership and low running costs.” Gibiino believes that at the core of the need to change is the fact that employee pay plans are still centred around hardware sales. “Dealerships will find it hard to attract the very best sales professionals if the package doesn’t reward for all new business wins,” he argued. “If you look at it from a salesperson’s perspective – in reality, you aren’t going to earn much money until you’ve built up a significant MIF and in today’s climate that could take three years! If you want good people then you have to reward on service and solutions and not just the commodity product. At ABC, we want to attract and retain the very best people and that’s why we changed our employee pay model so we reward on service as well,” he said in conclusion. www.itsaseasyasabc.co.uk www.altodigital.com www.asl-group.co.uk www.pinnaclecos.co.uk www.zenoffice.com www.visionplc.co.uk www.hollistechnology.co.uk www.brother.co.uk www.canon.co.uk www.oki.com/uk/printing www.kyoceradocumentsolutions. co.uk www.riso.co.uk www.xerox.com ...continued RESHAPED HOWWE REWARD PARTNERS “Working strategically with our partners is crucial to success. We recently reshaped how we reward our partners through the launch of our new partner programme. The new programme does centre on unit sales and has a tiered system that dealers can progress upon meeting relevant criteria. “This rewards loyalty and revenues, and it comes with increasing levels of marketing, sales and technical support as opposed to a simple rebate scheme. This approach is mutually beneficial in allowing us and our partners to move forward and grow together. “We implemented this system after looking at both how we had been operating with our partners, and on feedback. We have been delighted with the closer working strategic relationships that we have forged, and the business success that it is continuing to deliver.” Russell Long, UK, Ireland and Nordics Channel Business Manager, RISO UK REWARDING PARTNERS ESSENTIAL FOR LONGSTANDING AND PROFITABLE PARTNERSHIPS “Rewarding partners is essential to maintaining longstanding and profitable partnerships. At Xerox, our goal with every partner is to help them expand into new sources of predictable and profitable revenue with award winning products, supplies, and solutions, enabling our partners to win customers whilst retaining and growing their existing customer base. “We have a rigorous accreditation programme and reward our partners for their success. This is managed via our Xerox Global Partner Programme that consists of four partner categories with tangible benefits which increase as our partners grow their business. We review this regularly to ensure our accreditation and rewards remain meaningful and competitive. “Within the programme, we offer comprehensive training and enablement to all partners and additional benefits can progress to include significant discounts, incentives and rebates, as well as marketing support. “Our partners are critical to our business and we want them to build sustainable profitable revenue streams and be recognised for their success along the way.” Carlo Longhi, Director & General Manager, Indirect Channels UK & Ireland, Xerox Mark Smyth