Print.ITReseller
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“The channel is essential toour
continuedgrowth and success, and
this yearwill be our best ever in
terms of indirect business,” saidCarl
Day, Sales Director Indirect Division.
In terms of its channel strategy,Toshiba
is in a very different position compared
towhenDay joined the firm fromRicoh
four years ago.Then, hismain focuswas
on preventing dealersmoving on.“It’s fair
to say that historicallyweweren’t doing
enough to support our channel partners
and therewas a bit of discontent in the
camp,”he said.
Day set out to turn that around.“We
had to play a long game.We knew the
turnaroundwouldn’t happen overnight,
but wewere confident we could do it.
We invested in recruitment and sales
development plans andwe’ll start to see a
return on that this year,”he said.
With 60% of Toshiba’s unit sales
delivered through the channel,Toshiba
made it a business priority to invest in
initiatives designed to support partners’
business objectives and remove barriers to
their growth.
“TheToshibaMasters programme is a
great example of this,” saidDay.“I firmly
believe it is a powerful and uniqueway of
effecting change and collaboration through
our channel.”
TheMasters programme is the second
big investment in channel development
made byToshiba.Two years ago it started
the ball rolling by sending a number of
partners on high level trainingwith the
Marines.“Every dealer on that programme
grew their businesswith us,” saidDay.
Today, rather thanworrying about
losing dealers,Toshiba is actively looking
to recruit new ones. Day is quick to clarify
that they’re only looking for partners
in geographical areaswhere they don’t
already have a strong presence, for
example in London.
“We’ll be very careful not to
compromisewhat we’ve got.Our dealers
haveworked very hard for us and
expansion is a careful balance: growth
will come from amix of organic and new
business.”
TheToshiba difference
When askedwhat setsToshiba apart from
the crowd, Day lists a number of key selling
points.“Toshiba is the onlymanufacturer
Programmed tosucceed
ToshibaTECUK ImagingSystems is continuing todevelop its indirect division,
as it targets a30% increase inunit sales via the channel in FY14/15,
followingan increaseof 32% in thefinancial year just ended.
An IT company
Whilst the sale price of print has gone
down, Day points out that there is still
margin to bemadewhich is attracting
interest from new entrants to themarket,
such as traditional IT providers, network
providers and telecoms resellers.
“I believewe’ll seemore traditional
IT vendors adopting print as part of their
portfolio and it’s not beyond the realms
of possibility that theywill offer print on a
per-seat basis,”he said.
The impact on resellerswho are
unable to offer like-for-like services could
be significant, but Day is confident that
Toshiba has the expertise and resources
to enable resellers tomeet the challenges
of the future.“We’re an IT company and
we’ll cope verywell. For us, the buzzword
is collaboration– rather than diversify,we
need to collaborate.”
We've slashed
costs by
around45%
andpassed
that savingon
toour dealers
to offer erasable toner and a self encrypted
hard drive, for example.Andwewere
first tomarket with a comprehensive LED
offering.Our LED range ticks a lot of boxes:
the quality is amazing; there’s none of the
banding laser products typically deliver;
the technology ismuchmore reliable; it’s
cheaper to buy; and, as these devices use
less power, they are cheaper to run.”
Toshiba has also reduced the toner
costs on newmodels.“We’ve slashed costs
by around 45% andwe’ve passed that
saving on to our dealers.This has enabled
them to respond to street prices and gives
them a competitive edge.Our running
costs are now among the lowest on the
market,”he said.
Above all, says Day,Toshiba is
extremely flexible.“What’s brilliant about
Toshiba is its diversity.We’re like a small
company; we can turn on a sixpence, but
we’re backed by amassive engine.”
Official sponsor for 2014CommonwealthGames
As anofficial sponsor of the 2014CommonwealthGames,
ToshibaTECUK Imaging Systemswill provideGlasgow 2014with a
comprehensivemanagedprint service.
Toshiba productswill be used throughout theGames’ HQ, press office and
athletes village during the 11 days of competition between the 71 nations and
territories of theCommonwealth.The deal includes the supply of 600MFPs
supported by onsite engineers, a dedicated helpdesk and projectmanagers.
Glasgow-basedToshiba partner NCSwill helpToshiba deliver theMPS
before and during the event.
