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PRINT
IT
RESELLER.UK
ENGAGEMENT
I asked, of
all the sales
people you
deal with,
where would
you rate a
copier sales
person in
terms of trust?
The recent unification of Toshiba’s thermal label and copier
divisions gives office dealers the opportunity for additional
sales, says Day.
“We are looking at a multi-pronged
strategy to grow that division. We
are interested in developing
dealers’ skills to increase
opportunities for
our existing
channel. Many
of their clients
will also be
buying these
products,”
he said.
Toshiba
currently has a
market share of
about 35% for
its thermal
label
printers. It is particularly strong in food packaging, but also logistics and
deliveries where Toshiba’s range offers real advantages.
“Traditionally, if you are shipping something you would print an address
label with one bit of software, a docket on the laser printer and then a return
label on a separate piece of paper. But with our printers, you can print all of
that in one go,” said Day.
Because Toshiba can print on both sides they can be used to print the
delivery label , a returns label and also the docket in one pass.
Day says this is an example of the innovative thinking that already exists
in the labeller division and he is expecting existing copier dealers to bring
even more ideas particularly around solutions integration. “We are trying
to drive the barcode dealers to be less transactional and more solutions-
focused,” he said.
One way of encouraging this is to hold joint events for the copier and
label printer channels.
“We are going to have mixed educational events and conferences with
both divisions’ customers so we can share ideas. We are educating the two
sets of account managers together so they can share ideas, look at the ways
they each go to market and take best practice from both,” he said.
As an example of the synergy that could exist between the two parts of
the business, Day cites label printing.
“Think how many copier companies have problems caused by labels
jamming up a machine. It erodes their margin, because they have to send
engineers out to fix the problem. One of the things our dealers on the copier
side have started to do is supply customers that have a requirement to print
labels with a thermal label printer. Instead of spending a fortune on cleaning
drums and taking gum off the rollers, they supply a label printer as part of
their solution,” he said.
– she concluded that a) sales people are
very bad at reading the signs (or choose to
ignore them) and waste time on calls that
will never result in a sale; and b) that the
language they use is ineffective.
“If a sales person picks up the phone
and say my company is X, Y or Z and I can
save you money – how can you know?
How can you possibly know that you
can save me money? The person on the
other end of the line loses trust in the
sales person, because they think ‘How
do you know? You don’t know me or my
business’," explained Day.
Day says that this type of sales approach
creates a lack of trust between buyers and
sellers that tarnishes the reputation of the
sales profession and doesn’t reflect the
reality of most customer engagements.
“For my dissertation I asked people to
rate a number of professions by trust –
teacher, accountant, lawyer, nurse and sales
person. Every person I interviewed put sales
person last. I then asked, of all the sales
people you deal with, where would you
rate a copier sales person in terms of trust?
Everyone put them at the bottom. What
was interesting was that when I asked the
same question about their existing supplier,
the score was much higher,” he said.
Day then analysed what it was about
the behaviour of sales people that caused
such mistrust.
“One thing that came up a few times
is that the buyer would say ‘I hate it when
I can’t work out what I am paying, when
all the costs are hidden; that makes me
mistrust a salesman even more’. But when
you ask a sales person why they hide the
costs, they say ‘Because I don’t want them
to drive the price down’. One behaviour
drives the other. One side has to take the
lead and change the way we behave," he
said.
Ripple effect
JGOA is Day’s answer to this conundrum
– a methodology that allows both parties
to build a trusted relationship from the
outset. For Day, It is also validation of the
Masters programme.
“This is what the university calls the
ripple effect of learning. What I have learnt
will have rippled out to my team and will
have had a positive effect on my peers and
on stakeholders that deal with us. That
was my desire, my hope for it – that the
learning would change the thinking of our
channel.”
Day describes the Masters programme
as Toshiba’s ‘crown jewels’ – its Tier One
partner programme – adding that its
success has created an appetite for further
channel education programmes.
“We are looking at a single-year sales
person development programme, which
covers the sales part of the education. We
have done courses on digital marketing
and online marketing, and are now looking
at running PR workshops for our dealers
addressing how they promote themselves
and their brands,” he said.
In the meantime, a new cohort of
Toshiba dealers has just started the Masters
programme, which for the first time will
include participants from other industries
to provide a different perspective. At a cost
of about £28,000 per student, the course
represents a significant investment for
dealers, even if subsidised by Toshiba. But
for Day the investment in time, money and
effort is well worth it – “Everyone is seeing
a return on that investment,“ he said.
All in one
