ADVERTORIAL
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Fujitsu is not the market leader in
professional document scanners
purely on the strength of its
products. Just as important is its
record of continuous innovation and
the development of new capabilities
to help channel partners increase
sales and grow their business.
The company’s new sales and
marketing strategy epitomises this
approach. Instead of leading with scanners,
Fujitsu is prioritising ‘the customer journey’
to understand the decision-making process
customers go through before choosing
a scanner and to highlight how Fujitsu
products can solve real-world problems.
“No decision-maker in any company
wakes up in the morning and says 'I
must buy a scanner',” explains PFU Vice
President Mike Nelson. “But they might
worry about their paper; they might worry
about compliance; they might worry about
their document workflow. We have to align
our messaging with that and help them on
their journey towards the right solution.”
Platform choice
Depending on their requirements, a
customer might be directed towards the
ScanSnap platform, if their aim is to improve
personal productivity, or towards the
PaperStream platform, if the requirement is
to scan to an enterprise process.
“These are the two starting points
for the customer journey,” says Nelson.
“We will either take them on a ScanSnap
journey or a PaperStream journey. But
to reach this stage we discuss all of the
customer’s needs and possible solutions
before even mentioning a scanner. That’s
an interesting and different approach.”
Fujitsu believes that this is the way to
encourage greater take-up of scanning and,
in order to help its 30,000 resellers and
2,000 ISVs adopt the more consultative
processes and vertical solutions that this
approach demands, it is once again raising
the bar in channel support.
Channel enablement
Fujitsu only sells through the channel, so
it has always depended on partners for
growth. Two years ago it introduced the
concept of ‘channel enablement’.
“This was a big investment on our part to
support knowledge transfer between us and
our reselling partners, our system integration
partners and everyone in the channel down
to the end customer. This concept covers
training and information-based material
generally, with the aim of ensuring that
when an end customer talks to a reseller
about scanning they receive better, more
relevant information,” explains Nelson.
With such a large reseller base – and
the desire to recruit even more partners –
Fujitsu has established processes, systems
and tools to give channel partners the
information they need. These include partner
programmes, online training modules, social
media material and all manner of content
that partners can re-purpose, customise and
use for their own marketing.
Collaboration suites
To support its new strategy, Fujitsu
has extended its ‘channel enablement’
proposition with the establishment of
new facilities at its European HQ in Hayes,
Middlesex, where channel partners, their
customers, Fujitsu and software providers
can collaborate on solutions and share
knowledge. These include:
n
The Knowledge Suite training facility
where Fujitsu and its partners can transfer
and share expertise;
n
The Proof of Concept Room, where
Fujitsu’s new sales and marketing strategy is built on
collaboration and the sharing of knowledge
Template for success
ISV partners and Fujitsu engineers and
software developers can work together on
applications for customers, demonstrate
solutions, review them and consult with
the customer;
n
The Vertical Marketing Demonstration
Suite with applications and videos that can
be configured for different industry sectors,
including financial services, insurance,
healthcare, education and legal.
n
The Video Suite, a fully equipped video
studio that can be booked by channel
partners for training purposes and
producing marketing videos.
Nelson says Fujitsu is eager for channel
partners to make the most of these
meeting rooms and regularly holds events
to encourage their use.
“We have KnowledgeShare events to
which we invite ISV partners, resellers and
end users. On such days, all the meeting
rooms have different activities. There
might be on-the-fly product development
sessions or demonstrations of specific
applications in the Proof of Concept Room.
They are exciting days,” he says.
Successful template
These facilities have proved so successful,
says Nelson, that Fujitsu is now exporting
the template to its regional offices in
Munich, Madrid and Milan.
“We have just been through an
office move in Milan and we took the
opportunity to have our working space
custom-designed to match our external
sales strategy. Now, the main purpose
of the offices is to engage with our
customers; the secondary purpose is to
provide our staff with desks, phones and
somewhere to work.”
To find out how you can make use
of these facilities, please contact
or visit
-
channel-program.com/en/marketing-
materials/knowledge-suite/
knowledge-suite-brochure.html
We discuss
all of the
customer’s
needs and
possible
solutions
before even
mentioning a
scanner.
Mike Nelson,
Vice President,
PFU
Until the end of March 2016,
Fujitsu is running the ScanSnap
Enterprise Innovation promotion.
Entering the competition gives start-up
companies, entrepreneurs and SME
customers the opportunity to win cash
prizes. To enter, visit
.
The Vertical Marketing Demonstration Suite
