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winning us business consistently in this
area.”
Mark Smyth:
“Whilst pricing continues
to be a strong consideration and is set
to remain so,we are starting to see a
shift where clients are demanding a
more comprehensive service level that’s
deliverable,meets business needs and
minimises business disruption.
“I believe there is a balance, and the
recession has taught some organisations
that reducing costs can come at a price.
That price is poor service and its business
impact is often farmore expensive.”
Matt Goodall:
“There is a clear and
definedmindset nowadays that pricing
needs to be keen!Although there is
an upturn in business, people are still
cautious.We are seeing a big focus
on value and service formoney,where
customers are aware that cheap canmean
poor service and that in order to provide
a great service, you need to be able to
maintain aworkable profitmargin.There
is always a point where you have to stand
your ground and explain that to provide
the expected level of service you need to
be at a certain price point.”
AllanDavies:
“There is certainly a lot of
pressuremainly caused by online retailers
offering equipment for very low prices.
However,we counter this by showing
customers that they are not only buying a
very reliable product with SBM, but also a
customer-driven service,which cannot be
given by online competitors. So price is not
themain factor for consideration.
“SBM offers a gold standard of service,
which ensures customers are able to gain
training and support aswell as ensuring
themachines are installed andmaintained
to the highest level,whichmany
competitors, particularly online retailers, do
not offer.”
Wayne Jones:
“There is always
downward pressure on pricing, as there
will always be customerswho aremore
concerned about prices than the product.
We try to instil into our customers that
there are three things theywill never find
together: the best product, the best service
and the cheapest price.
“These three things never ever come
together; something has to give. If you
want the cheapest price youmost definitely
won’t get the best equipment, and if you
want the best service,more often than not,
thiswill not comewith the cheapest price.
“We try to explain to customers that
never the twain shall meet and if they
want the best product and the best service,
theywill have to pay a fair and reasonable
price.We have found over the years that a
customer whowants the best product, best
service and the cheapest pricewill never be
a happy customer or a long-term customer.
“The downward pressure on pricingwill
always be there in good and bad times, but
if this philosophy can be instilled into the
customer, at the very least itmakes them
sit back and take notice.”
DerrickMurphy:
“There has been strong
downward pressure on pricing for some
time in our industry,with hardware and
servicemargins continuing to be eroded.
“How dowe counteract it?Good old
fashioned service;we focus on delivering
service that exceeds our customers’
expectations.Unlike some competitors,
we have not reduced the level of service
we offer or reacted by implementing
service terms that impact negatively on our
customers.We have actually enhanced our
service proposition, including continued
investment in systems such as remote
devicemonitoring,which enables Reflex
to offer a fully ‘proactive’ servicemodel as
opposed to a ‘reactive’ model.This enables
our customers to be hands-off when it
comes tomanaging the equipment fleet,
saving them time andmoney. It also leads
to improved uptime of theirMFDs and
printers.
“As Berkshire’s local document
solutions provider, our customers currently
enjoy service response times averaging 2.9
hours,measured across our entireMIF.
“It’s not just about service though.As
aTotal Document Solutions provider,we
help customers improve their document
strategy, providing themwith additional
services that demonstrate opportunities
for improvement.We do this by taking a
holistic approach, identifying cost reduction
opportunities across the entire document
lifecycle and helping businesses focus on
the bigger picturewhilemaking positive
improvements to their organisation.
“We have just gone through a
major rebranding in linewith our vision
to continue to be the best Document
Solutions Provider inBerkshire and the
ThamesValley. ReflexTotal Document
Control will continue to partner with
its customers, adding immense value
to their businesses.We like to think of
ourselves as an extension of a customer’s
strategic team– an advisor helping
them improve business,workflow and
documentmanagement processes for the
long-term,whilemaking improvements
that demonstrate a strongROI in times of
economic uncertainty.”
opinion
...continued
DominicO’Connor,
Director,
Managed
Technology
Wayne Jones, Director of Operations,
Office Equipment Systems Ltd
...customers
are aware
that cheap
canmean
poor
service
and that
inorder
toprovide
a great
service, you
need to
be able to
maintain a
workable
profit
margin
Confidence returns
