INTERVIEW 51 PRINTITRESELLER.UK 29 continued... partners are core to our business and whilst we are on a recruitment drive at the moment, that doesn’t mean we want to move away from our traditional partner base, on the contrary, we’re actually looking to attract new partners. But in addition, we are also looking to proactively target managed service providers (MSPs),” she continued. LeAnne points out that the ongoing convergence of managed print and IT services and a shift among buyers to simplify purchasing and engage with one supplier to support them across the board, presents opportunity. “We want to work a little bit more closely with MSPs and provide them with a different but complementary product offering that can help them to diversify and drive additional revenue streams. “We operate in a mature market, so it’s about identifying where value sits. And I think both MSPs and traditional resellers can offer value to customers, so we are looking to engage and work with both channels,” she added. Supporting partners to diversify Toshiba has a broad range of products and solutions on offer including printers and MFPs, print and device management software, barcode/label printers, document management software, digital signage, scanners from Kodak Alaris, as well as IT solutions. The label printing market is one area which saw exponential growth during the pandemic, largely due to the rise of online shopping, and it is an area that stretches across many industries typically manufacturing, transport and logistics. “The growth within that area of the business through COVID was exceptional,” LeAnne said, adding: “If you look at the main verticals where there’s a requirement for labels such as e-commerce, everyone was shipping parcels rather than going to shops, there’s also demand for labels in pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, retail, food, logistics, the list goes on. “More and more of our MPS resellers are now exploring that side of the business. It’s a little bit more of a consultative sale, it can’t be sold under a click model and the applications are a little bit more niche. But this is a great example of where we are adding value. We recently added a colour label printer to our line up and we have a team of account managers that work exclusively on that side of the business. They work really closely with our partners from LeAnne says that Toshiba’s channel strategy is centred around adding value to its partners and hints at some exciting plans in the pipeline including the launch of a revamped partner programme. Just like every other OEM in the print market, Toshiba Tec was not immune to the many challenges posed by the COVID pandemic, and LeAnne acknowledges some of the pain points, particularly around supply chain issues. “The past few years have been challenging, but we are fortunate to have a loyal partner base. We’ve always had very strong relationships with our resellers and because of that we continued to communicate and have the conversations we needed to ensure both Toshiba and our partners were able to effectively plan, forecast and meet customers’ expectations and needs,” she explained. “I’m delighted to say that we’ve now come out the other side! We are in a really strong and stable position, we’re back to being proactive rather than reactive, and we are very much looking forward to future growth within our channel.” Recruitment drive The print channel is an integral part of Toshiba’s growth strategy. “Our dealer Eyes on the channel LeAnne Foley, Head of Indirect Sales at Toshiba Tec UK speaks to Michelle Ryder about the company’s channel recruitment drive, the value-add resellers can expect when partnering with Toshiba, and the launch of a new partner programme LeAnne Foley
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDUxNDM=