Confidence returns
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opinion
Print.ITReseller
26
DerrickMurphy,ManagingDirector, Reflex
Andrew Jones, Sales &MarketingDirector, 1st Office Equipment
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investment, as consumers are foreseeing a
rise this year and are investing now rather
thanwaiting for this to push up prices.
“I do believe, however, that people are
veryworried that the current economic
growth and low interest rates are going
to be short lived and that we could end
up going back into a recession,which is
suppressing demand for new equipment.”
Wayne Jones:
“There is no doubt that
there are improved order books from our
customers.A perfect example of this is
a building contractor that we recently
suppliedwith a new IT network solution.
They toldme that for the last four years
they have livedweek-to-week, but they
now have an order bookwith on-going
work taking them to the end of December.
That obviously gives them the confidence
to invest in new technology.
“The last four years have been brutal
formany businesses and demand is also
being driven by the fact that, due to lack of
investment, businesses haven’t upgraded
their technology.They are now finding that
as the economic climate improves somust
their IT solutions.
“At times, there is still reluctance from
the customer to invest.Whilst thiswill
suppress demand in the short term, as
long as the economy continues to gather
momentum at a controlled rate and
confidence continues, due to the ageing
technologywithin customers’ businesses,
I feel in time this reluctancewill change.”
DerrickMurphy:
“There are signs
that business investment is starting to
pick up. Confidence is high amongst our
customers and feedback from our customer
base across Berkshire andTheThames
Valley highlights investment in training,
recruitment, plant andmachinery.
“Exports have risen to an all time
high and our customers are quite
positive. Believing that stagnation is not
good for business, they appear to have
remained at the high end of optimistic,
setting themselves challenging targets.
Berkshire for decades has beenUK
PLC’s engine room. It has the highest
levels of knowledge-intensive businesses
anywhere outside theCity of London and
is consistently one of the top performing
economies in Europe.The six unitary
councils inBerkshire have developed a
‘Local Investment Plan’,which iswell
publicised by theThamesValley Chamber
of Commerce and othermedia.
“However,while recovery has been rich
in jobs, it has been poor in productivity
andwages.Average household incomes
remainwell below pre-recession peaks and
have to recover over the next few years.
While the economy as awhole is firmly on
the road to recovery, itmay be some years
beforemany low andmiddle earners feel
the recession is really over.
“Factors that continue to cause concern
with our customers in respect to growth
and investment include access to capital
and nervousness about whether the Bank
of Englandwill maintain an investment
friendly environment, keep inflation low
and provide clarity on forward interest
rates. Housing supply, housing affordability
and transport infrastructure to ease
congestion are other issues that Berkshire
has to contendwith.”
Q: Is there strongdownwardpressure
onpricing andwhat are youdoing
to counter it?’
DominicO’Connor:
“As our core focus
is new business,we are always very
competitively positioned. However,we
have enjoyed a number of larger wins by
concentrating on value-add propositions,
such as BYOD tools and cloud services.
These additional facilities enableManaged
Technology to differentiate ourselves from
our local competition and have played a
key role in our success to date.”
Andrew Jones:
“Pricing has been under
pressure for the last 30 years!We have
always sold on ‘value’ and not simply price.
If you can demonstrate value formoney,
give confidence in the solution being
presented, be transparent in the financials
and provide good references for after sales
support, you’re half way there!”
JohnGripton:
Re-sale prices andCPC
prices are continually being driven down
as competition increases.Thismeans that
we are having to break themould of the
traditional lease/purchase option combined
with a cost per copy support plan. Inmany
cases,we are supplying themachines on a
support plan only.
“This gives the client threemain
benefits: no long-term financial
commitment to a third-party funder;
only one invoice permonth/per quarter;
and a real one-stop-shop.This change in
our approach to business has enabled
us to improve customer confidence and
long-term customer loyalty,which, in turn,
meanswe can consolidate existing revenue
streams and increase new ones.”
GaryDowney:
“At the transactional end
of themarket,where print technology is
viewed as a commodity, there is significant
price competition, not only on equipment
prices but also on service pricing. In
moremature organisations there is an
understanding that the print infrastructure
plays a critical role in operations and, for
that reason, a higher quality provider and
the services they can provide over and
above equipment aremore attractive.Our
ability to deliver a full managed service is
...due to
lack of
investment,
businesses
haven’t
upgraded
their
technology
