PRINTITRESELLER.UK 43 VOX POP continued... While hybrid working from home was the buzzword for 2022 and 2023, with expectations of a significant shift towards remote work, we have found that many people are returning to the workplace similar question about the outlook for 2023. As we look ahead to 2024, it appears that not much will change. Geopolitical issues continue to cast their shadow, impacting every country and, consequently, affecting businesses in various ways, from the prices of machinery, toner, fuel, and electricity to the overall cost of living. The ongoing cost of living crisis remains a top concern for most people. In the copier industry, there seems to be an ongoing race to the bottom, with dealers engaged in aggressive pricing competition and offering what appear to be excessively low CPCs. We anticipate further consolidation in the industry, with smaller companies likely to be acquired and larger ones potentially being bought out by manufacturers and equity firms. Additionally, it's expected that the demand for traditional printing will continue to decline across various business sectors. Even those with extensive experience in the industry, such as myself, the founder of EBM, who has been involved in print for 36 years, can see this decline. The copier business is increasingly embracing a paperless future, and this trend appears to be at its most pronounced. However, despite the prevailing pessimism, it's worth noting that some companies, like ours, have demonstrated resilience to these challenges. We have experienced steady growth over the years, and we plan to continue this trend into 2024. Rather than engaging in the race to the bottom, we focus on offering value through a robust training program and ongoing investments in our staff. While hybrid working from home was the buzzword for 2022 and 2023, with expectations of a significant shift towards remote work, we have found that many people are returning to the workplace and are still relying on printing, albeit perhaps not at prepandemic levels. Moreover, as customers become increasingly conscious of environmental issues, we've observed a rising demand for eco-friendly solutions in office settings. This shift is likely to contribute to increased revenue for our business in 2024. https://www.ebmltd.co.uk Phil Madders, Managing Director, PAE Business: How was your 2023? My perception was that things were improving over the years of 2021 and 2022. We had had some political stability with the same Prime Minister and Chancellor (at the time of writing). The Ukrainian conflict whilst still a terrible situation, was baked into the forecasts and economic data, inflation is coming down overall and businesses seem to be prospering again as hardware and supplies availability is better, and the Northen Ireland Protocol offered a way forward to a better trading partnership with the EU post Brexit. In the negative column we had teachers on strike, and swathes of the medical profession still on strike, and then as the year draws to a close and you begin to look forward to 2024, events get in the way and we have Gaza erupting in violence and an international crisis which will have impact on the business world globally, the extent of which will hopefully be mitigated by the statesmanship of our political leaders. Let's hope they find a positive way forward for all parties affected. So where does this leave our channel as we enter 2024? The runners and riders for the PAE Business ‘prediction sweepstake for business trends’ are as follows: n Automation Automation is going to be the key activity for the reseller channel in 2024. It is the reason that underpins so many of the activities our partners are engaged in daily. If you step back and consider the opportunities automation of processes at the customer level that the channel engages in daily: An MFP is supplied which can scan invoices to an accounts system and by doing so triggering workflows to process them. The success of DocuWare, and Therefore in the Document management/ workflow space and the recurring revenue generated, which in turn, is beginning to change how we sell our services. Automation is also entering our customers’ back-office. We launched Cloudquote in April 2023. It is a quotation automation tool which massively reduces the time spent creating quotations for salespeople, ensures they have high quality quotations, up to date pricing and lease rates, and provides visibility of the pipeline for forecasting, stock control, invoicing and ordering the configuration the customer has ordered. We have not had a day since launch where the solution was not being installed somewhere, and our customers include an OEM at the top level, systems integrators, and your traditional office equipment dealer with one salesperson. The reason they are adopting it as with all automation processes is the need to deliver more with less people, and free people up from the mundane and repetitive, in this case compiling a quote, to being free to focus on activities which sell more. It is the same motivation that Mick Bailey Andrew Ellis
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