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no credit was available for the deal was
tough for dealers. Fortunately, we were able
to secure credit from a couple of finance
firms so our partners could close deals. That
earned us a lot of positive goodwill in the
channel and word spread quickly that we
could make deals happen.”
New premises
Continued growth meant that by 2010
DSales needed to move from its small
business unit into larger premises. “We’d
got to the point where we had to up our
game and become more professional
in the range of services we offered. We
needed more space and so we bought our
current headquarters at a business park in
Ripponden, West Yorkshire,” said Whitworth.
The new building accommodated
workshops, offices, a showroom and a
training centre, which DSales was able to
extend six months later when it purchased
an additional 1,600 square feet of space in
the building next door.
In 2013, the firm announced the
opening of a new Heathrow base to serve
channel partners and their customers in
London and the south-east of England. The
showroom, conveniently located close to
the M25 and M4 motorways and adjacent
to Heathrow airport, provides southern-
based DSales (UK) dealerships with a facility
where they can demonstrate the latest
models in the Develop multifunctional
range, without the need to acquire their
own demonstration stock.
Moving with the times
Whitworth says the biggest changes over
the last ten years have been the growth
in colour; the increasing trend for A4-
only MFPs; rising demand for document
management software as part of a total
hardware and software solution for
document imaging; and, most recently, the
huge growth in mobile working practices
and the need to support direct input from
mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.
“The Develop ineo+ range of colour
MFPs is very strong, particularly in the
crucial mid-range 30-49 ppm category. As
nine out of ten MFP orders from our dealers
are for colour devices, this excellent product
line-up places us in a great position for
2016 and beyond,” said Whitworth.
“Also strengthening our sales position
for 2016 is support for mobile working,
which features in the latest Develop ineo
MFPs. More office workers now access the
internet via their mobile phones than use
laptop computers. This fast growing trend
for mobile working means that mobile
workers don’t want to have to log onto a
desktop computer to print and scan. They
want to be able to action this straight from
their mobile device to save time and limit
inconvenience.”
The latest Develop ineo MFPs use NFC
(Near Field Communication) to allow direct
pairing with a mobile device, authentication,
touch to print and touch to scan. According
to Whitworth, there are more NFC-enabled
products due for launch in 2016. “This will
give our dealerships a competitive edge
when it comes to talking to existing and
prospective customers about upgrading their
fleets, because support for flexible mobile
working patterns is now a critical MFP
application,” he said.
Established brand
Today, ten years on, DSales is an established
brand with a significant market share. “We
are an established player in the marketplace.
We’re by no means the biggest, but we are
a recognised competitive option for many
accounts,” said Whitworth.
It employs 13 people – three sales
people, four engineers, four administrators,
a marketing manager and a product
manager – and has a significant number of
dealerships across the UK, including many
who are single-line. “In the main, we’re
usually taken on as a strong second brand
that complements a dealer’s existing product
offering,” explained Whitworth.
He added: “As the economic recovery
is now well under way, we believe that
the combination of Develop hardware and
software innovation, coupled with DSales’
outstanding service delivery, will win us new
dealer partners and many more customers
in 2016.”
As to what the next 10 years hold,
Whitworth said: “I wish I knew! People
have been predicting the paperless office
for as long as I have been in the industry
and that’s quite a while now. Yet paper
refuses to die. I think MFPs will become
document servers with print and scan
functionality, plus the ability to store and
route documents. With the economy now in
great shape, we look forward to a golden
era for the industry.”
To celebrate its tenth anniversary,
DSales is planning a series of business
events over the next twelve months with
staff, dealer partners and customers.
Whitworth said: “We have exciting plans in
place and fully intend to keep on growing
and expanding our business, despite
operating in a fiercely competitive market.
We look forward to sharing our vision for
future success with our partners during the
course of the next year.”
There are
more NFC-
enabled
products due
for launch
in 2016. This
will give our
dealerships a
competitive
edge when
it comes to
talking to
existing and
prospective
customers.
...continued
DSales
technical team
