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ADVERTORIAL
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
that help customers make the
transition from paper-based to
digital processes and workflows.
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 Mike Nelson, Vice President
of PFU (EMEA) Ltd – a Fujitsu
company. “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
Fujitsu’s central proposition is that
scanning makes documents useful
and enables them to become part
of a process. Depending on whether
a customer’s aim is to improve
personal productivity or to scan to
an enterprise process, they will be
directed to:
i) ScanSnap,
a complete personal
document management solution
aimed at personal productivity in the
home, small business or enterprise,
including the ability to scan to PDF,
Microsoft Office, the cloud, print,
email and fax; or
ii) PaperStream,
an enterprise-level
document management platform
that captures documents
and cleans up and
enhances images so that
they can be used in a downstream
enterprise process, such as
e-invoicing or enterprise content
management.
“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.”
Consistent experience
It’s a different approach for
many resellers, too, and over the
last two years, Fujitsu, which does
not sell directly to the end customer,
has been transforming the support
it provides resellers to ensure there
is a consistent customer experience
throughout the channel.
“A couple of years ago, we defined
something that we call channel
enablement,” explains Nelson. “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. It covers a lot
of 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.”
Fujitsu and its partners are meeting the needs of end user customers with
a more collaborative, consultative approach
Putting your needs first
Vertical industry expertise
The inevitable consequence of a more
consultative approach is a requirement
for specialist knowledge of individual
vertical industries. To meet this
demand, Fujitsu has established new
facilities at its European HQ in Hayes,
Middlesex, where channel partners,
their customers, Fujitsu and software
providers can share knowledge and
collaborate on solutions.
These include a training facility;
a Proof of Concept Room, where
ISV partners and Fujitsu engineers
and software developers can
work together on applications,
demonstrate solutions, review
them and consult with the
customer; a video studio; and a
Vertical Marketing Demonstration
Suite where customers can see
applications and content tailored to
specific vertical sectors, including
financial services, insurance,
healthcare, education and legal.
Nelson says Fujitsu is eager
for end users to make the most of
these meeting rooms and regularly
holds events for resellers and their
customers.
“We have KnowledgeStream
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 Fujitsu can help
you drive paper out of your business
and implement more efficient digital
workflows, please
visit
Mike Nelson,
Vice
President,
PFU
(EMEA) Ltd – a
Fujitsu company
Fujitsu is
prioritising
‘the customer
journey’ to
understand
the decision-
making
process
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
