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INTERVIEW
42
I understand
exactly what
you are
trying to do.
I understand
exactly what
your pressures
are
Stuart Sykes is in confident mood
when
PrintIT Reseller
catches
up with him at Sharp’s offices in
Stockley Park near Heathrow. And
why wouldn’t he be? A massive
injection of cash by new investor
Foxconn has enabled him to dust-
down initiatives shelved when Sharp
was on its uppers and build on what
he describes as a ‘great’ six months.
There will be a reckoning at some
point – Sharp is targeted to double
in size over the next five years – and
the road ahead is scattered with
more obstacles and hidden dangers
than a Super Mario kart track. But
right now, the Yorkshireman’s focus
is firmly on Sharp’s potential – and
that of its resellers.
Since April 2016, when Sykes was
appointed Managing Director for the
whole of Sharp Business Systems UK – he
was previously in charge of the company’s
direct business – he has been at great
pains to reassure dealers that they have
nothing to fear from his appointment and
that the dealer channel is central to Sharp’s
growth plans.
In doing so, Sykes makes much of his
20 years at Ricoh dealer Eurocopy, a £20
million business later renamed IoT, which
Sharp acquired in 2011.
“I can remember being on the dealer
side – I have sat across the table from
manufacturers for many years, thinking
‘You don’t get it; you don’t understand
what it’s like to run a sales business,
buying from manufacturers and having
to add value and make a profit’. That’s
the feeling that dealers have about
manufacturers,” he said.
“One of the positive messages I have
been able to put across to dealers as I
have met them over the last six months
is ‘I understand exactly what you are
trying to do; I understand exactly what
your pressures are; and I understand that
what a manufacturer does can affect you
greatly’. So please be assured that I will
take the decisions with dealers in mind,
because, at the end of the day, we want
you to be stronger.”
Sales at Sharp are currently split 50:50
between the direct and indirect sides of
the business. If the company is to double in
size and maintain this ratio, which is what
Sykes wants, both channels will have to
grow significantly.
Direct and indriect
In the past, Sharp has used acquisitions
to strengthen and extend the reach of
its direct business. Its take-over of IoT in
2011 gave Sharp Direct national coverage
for the first time and, more recently, its
acquisitions of Copyfax and CopyIT have
boosted its presence in the North West and
East Anglia.
The company’s financial difficulties put
this programme on ice, but post-Foxconn,
Sykes expects it to be revived. “It’s
definitely part of the European strategy,
and if we find the right prospect in the UK
we will look at it. That doesn't necessarily
mean a traditional MFP dealer; it could be
a system integrator or IT services company.
What we don't want to do is end up with
an imbalance between the direct and
dealer sides of our business. We want to
grow the dealer side as well,” he said.
Sharp currently has about 120 active
dealers across the UK and it is keen to
increase that number in the future. In
tandem with a dealer recruitment strategy,
Sharp has various initiatives to help dealers
grow organically.
Sykes says that one of his priorities
has been to change the company ethos
Sharp unbound
PrintIT Reseller
meets Stuart Sykes, Managing Director of
Sharp Business Systems UK
so that everyone on the direct side of the
business is conscious of the bigger picture
and understands how the success and
prosperity of Sharp and its dealers are
intertwined. He points out that with less
than 10% market share there’s a lot of
business to go after and no need for Sharp
Direct to tread on the toes of channel
partners.
“As a manufacturer we want our
dealers to thrive. If our direct team takes
business away from one of them, it’s
so easy for them to switch to someone
else, because you don’t want to be in
competition with your own manufacturer.
We have put mechanisms in place and
fostered a thought process amongst direct
sales people to stop them trampling on
a dealer with cheaper pricing. And it’s
worked really, really well,” he said.
“When they go after new business, our
sales people have a discovery phase when
they find out who the incumbent is. If it’s
a Sharp dealer, with a Sharp product, we
don’t want to upset that relationship – it’s
already a Sharp sale. But if it’s a Ricoh
account, or Samsung or Toshiba, then fine.”
That ethos underpins everything Sharp
will do going forward, including a growth
strategy consisting of four main strands
– service improvements, changing the
perception of Sharp, the Foxconn effect
and listening to dealers.
1
Improvements
In recent years, Sharp has had to cut its
coat to suit its cloth – plans have been put
on ice, economies made and corners cut –
sometimes with unwelcome consequences.
In the last year, even before the Foxconn
cash injection, Sharp had started to put
things right.
“Because of our financial difficulties in
the past, we were under-resourced
in certain areas, which made it
difficult for us to really make an
impact in the marketplace,” Sykes
explained. “Under the previous regime,
for cost-cutting reasons, the whole
back office was outsourced. The
service customers were getting
wasn’t good enough and it
started impacting the business.
So, when we were able to, we
took the decision to terminate the
contract and ‘in-source’, to bring the
back office in-house. This has been
a complete success with our dealers.
Everyone is delighted.”
Stuart Sykes,
Managing Director,
Sharp Business
Systems UK
