Scott Walker,
Head of Business
Development,
ZenOffice
Matt Goodall,
Service Director,
Office Evolution
David Griffiths,
Sales Director,
Sharples Group
Mark Smyth, Operations Director, Vision
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He said that whether price increases
have to be absorbed by the dealer or can
be passed on to the customer will be reliant
on the precise terms of existing contracts
between dealers and their customers.
Protecting margins
Minimising the impact of Brexit on
organisational growth plans is the main
concern for Vision. “We will do all we can,”
Smyth said. “We believe some buying
decisions have been postponed but there is
some cautious optimism and encouragement
that the new government leadership will
have the skills and capability to strike the
right balance between the interests of the
UK and EU countries for trade and industry
and steer us successfully through the
difficult and uncertain time ahead.”
Griffiths said that Sharples is also
constantly monitoring the profitability of its
business. “We pay particular attention to our
service revenue, the backbone of any office
equipment suppliers’ business,” he said. “It
does concern me that it sometimes seems
like I am having to sign off a lower cost per
page to secure the next order.”
In Griffiths’ opinion Britain's office
equipment customers enjoy the lowest
CPCs in Europe. “They have been declining
for the last 10 years, so it wouldn't do any
harm for the UK to have an increase as a
consequence of Brexit,” he commented.
“Eventually something will have to give or
we will be forced to seek other sources of
service revenue such as charging for the IT
services aspect of our business, which many
dealers currently provide for free.”
When it comes down to protecting
margins, Walker said that if a managed print
service provider knows their market, there’s
no reason a solution can’t be designed
and implemented to protect the margins
on any agreement. He advised: “Identify
other areas you can help businesses from
mailroom solutions, invoice automation or
even digitising customers’ collateral (letter
heads, legal document templates etc.). With
this methodology, your customer will realise
savings outside of their printing equipment
and resellers should still make good profits.
It’s a win win.”
According to Griffiths, having the
flexibility to review, adjust and change
direction with products and services will
remain a key skill for independent suppliers.
“As an independent we can be more agile
than our larger competitors and be well
placed to react to market trends and carry
less overheads,” he concluded.
