PRINTITRESELLER.UK 39 ENERGY ways to report on their carbon footprint, renewable energy solutions to reduce scope two emissions and we recently launched solar as-a-service as well.” Measure, manage and report In conclusion, Haw spoke about the value in enabling customers to measure and report on their carbon footprint. “There’s lots of businesses that have individuals that will manually go in and report on a business’ carbon footprint and charge a fee. Our platform actually uses APIs into the meter feeds of industry data to automate that on a monthly basis. That makes it incredibly straightforward and accessible to everybody. Reporting is key – if you can report on it, you can track it, if you can track it, you can measure it, and if you can measure it, you can change it.” https://fidelity-energy.co.uk One portal Callow explained that all partners get access to the Ambolt technology portal. “The portal enables the partner to be in as much or as little control as they would like to be when it comes to customer quotes. Some partners like to do everything themselves in the portal, others like to lean on an account manager here for support. But effectively, the partner is the one that decides the margin on the deal. They can enter in a pence per unit markup – it’s capped to keep it reasonable for everybody and keep it competitive in the market.” The model is not unsimilar to the print audit process, all a partner needs is the customer’s bill, they can enter actual usage and price details into the portal and generate a range of quotes from suppliers. “The best thing about Ambolt is that it enables the partner to give their customer a full view of the market and the options available to them, really quickly, based upon their actual usage. And then, if the customer wants to go ahead, the contract and everything else can be done electronically, again, all pretty much instantly,” he added. Mitigate lost print revenue Callow points to the decline in print volumes and impact on resellers’ revenue. “Every customer uses electricity, and a lot will use gas, so this is a perfect thing to be talking to customers about, and a real opportunity to replace that lost revenue stream and increase stickiness.” There is of course a sustainability benefit too. “Most businesses, certainly large corporates are working to achieve their carbon neutrality targets by 2030,” Haw said, adding: “With energy, scope one and scope two emissions are vastly within our control, and we also provide ancillary services for some of the other scope two emissions. “We can provide EV charging for clients with electric fleets, as well as Haw’s background is in the telecoms sector, he worked with UCaaS, mobile and connectivity services provider Gamma, for twelve years, before transitioning to the energy sector in 2015. “When I left Gamma, we had a great portal serving 1,000 loyal resellers and we basically took the concept of energy management for their customers into the channel using a technology platform which we’ve built. We’ve now got about 650 telecoms resellers that currently use our technology platform to manage their customers’ energy contracts, carbon reporting and their usage,” he explained. The channel opportunity Having enjoyed significant take-up within the telecoms channel, Fidelity Energy is now looking to expand its reach into the print channel. Haw continued: “Every single customer will be buying energy, and about 80% of those will be buying gas as well, and their spend on energy will be significantly higher than their telco or their print spend. “Those customers need to know people they can trust and want to be given good, honest advice. We find that our partners have got great relationships with their customers, they’ve been trading with them for a long time, and they’ve found it’s very easy to add energy to their portfolio. We manage all of the compliance, the regulatory requirements, we do all the service and support functions – they effectively sell energy – a key service – with us to their customers.” Speaking about the revenue opportunity for resellers, Haw said Fidelity has various different options. “But typically, we go into a 50/50 partnership with a partner and they earn the money as long as they’ve got the customer. So, every time they renew, we pay them again.” Partners can choose to have the money monthly in arrears, build a recurring model, or in some instances secure payment upfront. New revenue opportunity Michelle Ryder spoke to Fidelity Energy’s CEO John Haw, and Paul Callow, Head of Strategic Partner Acquisition, to find out more about the opportunity for print channel vendors to secure new revenue by helping their customers get best value from their energy contracts John Haw Paul Callow Most businesses, certainly large corporates are working to achieve their carbon neutrality targets by 2030
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