Print.IT Reseller - issue 50

01732 759725 48 Q&A View from the channel Q: What are your customers most interested in? A: Many of our customers are asking us to help them meet the legal requirements around data protection. The new GDPR regulation that will become law in May 2018 requires all companies to carefully reconsider how they deal with sensitive information and of course both paper and electronic documents have an important role to play. Q: Do clients have the same understanding of industry terms, such as BYOD, MPS or MDS, as we do? A: It is our responsibility to explain these industry terms to our customers. Printing from mobile devices, workflow automation and document security, are all extremely relevant but often sales people will try to baffle the customers with industry jargon. Keep it simple…! Q: Where are you seeing most traction at the moment, are there any verticals that are particularly strong? A: Transport, logistics and distribution companies are all going through significant changes and our technology can really provide these organisations with a competitive edge. Q: When selling MFPs, what are the most popular software solutions you provide and why? A: Many of our customers now reach out to us to help them improve the security around their printing devices, often the achilles heel of an organisation’s network. We do this through McAfee and Cisco software, authentication and “follow me” software and scanning apps. Q: Where do you get information on the latest products and solutions, and do you feel that the OEMs are doing enough to educate their channel partners? A: Our strategic partner is Xerox and every year all our staff go through a stringent training program to pass all accreditation and certification criteria. Over the 28 years that we have been trading, we haven’t failed yet! Q: Is your patch particularly competitive – is it national or local competition that you face? A: Our industry is extremely competitive and South Wales and the South West are Kevin Thomas, Group Sales Director, Pinnacle Document Solutions no different in that respect. Through our acquisitions we now serve customers throughout the UK and Europe and that enables us to achieve economies of scale both from a sales and service delivery point of view. Q: How do you spend your week – time on phone, face to face meetings with customers etc.? A: I have recently joined Pinnacle and I am currently trying to visit as many customers as possible. It is the best way to understand where we can improve our proposition and of course uncover new opportunities. I am a people person so I also prefer meeting people face to face. Having said that, I have just been reprimanded for the size of my phone bill! Q: What would make your job easier? A: A new laptop (hint to my Managing Director), a faster car (hint to my Managing Director) and a bigger sales team! www.pinnaclecos.co.uk Many of our customers now reach out to us to help them improve the security around their printing devices