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DEALER PROFILE
A service-centric business
Perkins joined the Leicester-
headquartered firm, when it was
known as Copying Services Leicester,
as a service engineer 30 years ago.
“It was a small company, there was
just six of us, compared with today
when our headcount sits at around
48 people,” he said.
Growth was strong and consistent for
the Konica Minolta single-line dealership
and Perkins rose rapidly through the ranks.
He was promoted to Service Director and
after demonstrating prowess in closing
sales, assumed responsibility for the sales
function. “As the years went on, the
original directors retired and I alongside
co-director Michael Mathias, continued
to purchase shares,” he said. Ten years
ago they completed the purchase of the
business outright, and today they jointly
co-own the entire company.
Recently two long-standing employees,
John Sharp and Jamie Denham, joined the
management team and were appointed
as directors of the business, a move which
Perkins says reflects the continued growth
of the company, its optimism for the future
and the contribution which both have made
and will continue to make, to its success.
“Somebody once said that the key
to success is to surround yourself with
good people. This is certainly true of CSL's
success which is a reflection of the length
of service and professionalism of its staff.
John and Jamie epitomise this culture,” he
said.
Single-line specialist
The company has remained true to its roots
and maintained its status as a single-line
Konica Minolta partner. “We like the build
quality and the fact that the brand is an
innovator particularly in the colour sector,”
Perkins explained, adding: “We have
been tempted over the years to expand
and sell some cheaper brands, but we’ve
always come back to Konica Minolta, the
advent of colour for us was a pivotal point
in the relationship, we saw that as a key
opportunity and with the Konica Minolta
offer, we’ve definitely enjoyed some
significant successes and secured some
major wins.”
CSL Group was one of the first UK
Konica Minolta dealerships. “I firmly believe
that if you do one thing, then you should
do it well. From a service perspective, all
13 of our engineers are manufacturer
trained and only deal with Konica Minolta
hardware, this specialism resonates well
with our customers and enables us to
deliver an unparalleled level of service,”
Perkins said.
Independence is a strength
CSL Group counts many household name
brands amongst its client base but assigns
equal importance to winning new business
within local, smaller clients. “The market
has continued to consolidate and there
are fewer independents today than there
have been historically, and we see our
independence as a local supplier as a core
PrintIT Reseller
spoke to
Andy Perkins, co-owner
of CSL Group, about the
company’s 48-year heritage,
its service-centric approach
and future growth plans
strength,” he said.
“We are fortunate that we are of a
sufficient size to compete with national
or even multi-national vendors, we have
terrific backing from Konica Minolta and
our buying power ensures we have a place
at the table when it comes to large tenders
and bids, but we work hard to ensure
that we provide local customers with the
same high levels of customer service,” he
continued.
CSL Group’s customer retention rate is
enormous, according to Perkins. “We lose
very few customers, we look after them and
many have been with us for many years.”
Superior service
According to Perkins, the service side of the
business is very important. It has won the
National Service Award from Konica Minolta
for twelve consecutive years, something
which Perkins says speaks to its commitment
to maintain the highest levels of support
to its customers. In addition customers are
allocated a dedicated engineer, a move
that ensures relationships are forged and
that the engineer is wholly familiar with the
customer’s devices and history.
“We commit to the industry standard
four-hour response time, but we manage
that very tightly and are currently at 3.1
hours,” he said. All engineers carry around
£8,500 worth of stock with them and
CSL Group utilises vehicle management
software to help make its service support
more responsive and efficient.
We are
fortunate
that we
are of a
sufficient
size to
compete
with
national or
even multi-
national
vendors
(l-r) John Sharp, Michael Mathias, Andy Perkins and Jamie Denham
