Print IT Reseller - issue 60

01732 759725 46 VOX POP ...continued as the product refresh rate is determined by the agreement they have signed up to. That ensures there’s a more regular dialogue between vendor and customer, and that dialogue is more valuable. We can spend more time discussing mapping their business needs to new products or services, so the conversation is now based much more around business planning than just product selling. That dynamic adds more value, and should foster even stronger client relations.” Mark Bamford : “In terms of the benefits of subscription sales, in addition to the regular recurring revenues, it allows resellers to deliver higher margin services and develop a closer relationship with customers as a ‘trusted supplier’. Customers buy into the concept of the reseller taking care of everything, providers who seek to offer services above and beyond office print (print room, mail room, filing and archiving, workflow automation, business process outsourcing) the opportunity to include these as simple add-ons to the core offering and therefore provide significant differentiation versus those that have no additional service capability.” Phil Madders : “I would say all of the above. Additional revenue streams as you add complementary services to the core agreement without having to create a new vehicle for the acquisition. As an example, adding movies to a Sky package or Netflix – they are easy acquisitions to make as they have a perceived low monthly cost – but you have them for a long time. The sale moves from a transaction to a true partnership where you create solutions for your customers – with your customers. The pressure to close a deal by month end goes away as all you are focussed is creating more subscription revenues. Of course, to do this you have to have happy customers – and happy customers stay with you.” Tony Milford : “It’s a double-edged sword in many cases. There is no doubt that it gives people the opportunity to secure additional revenue, remove barriers from the sales process and to make customers more ‘sticky’. But on the flip-side, it requires levels of service to be first-class and for the customer to be satisfied that the vendor is providing real-value, because the potential downside is that it makes it easier in many cases for the client to change providers if service delivery is poor.” James Turner : “All of them, you could interpret the examples in different ways – it will be different for each customer but retention is key. A customer is much easier to sell to than a prospect, and providing flexible solutions to customers allows them to be flexible to their customers. The tech world is rapidly changing so flexible services and payments are crucial to achieve and sustain longer partnerships.” Darren Bird : “XaaS ensures a consistent revenue stream as well as an additional one. Customers are satisfied inasmuch as they are assured that the equipment they have is up to date – which gives them a competitive advantage – and that it is as secure as it can be. “By their nature, subscription-based services also open up a more regular communication channel with customers, freeing them up to focus on achieving their ongoing business strategies. This can significantly impact on the level of customer satisfaction and retention. For example, Hollis achieves over 99 per cent customer retention as a direct result of being an early adopter of the subscription model.” Alastair Adams : “A subscription service should be an opportunity and provide business value to both suppliers and customers. By avoiding the need for large, upfront capital investments and taking advantage of infrastructure based in ‘the cloud’, it makes adopting a new service easier. It is also easier to connect additional services in the future for the same reasons. “The ‘rules’ around ownership are changing: as consumers we expect to be able to have what we want, when we want it. Therefore the nature of contracts could change, and an interesting point is whether a subscription service could mean a shorter and/or more flexible contract which gives the customer more control. This in turn raises a challenge about funding, but would really refocus resellers’ attention on service levels.” www.fiduciaconsultancy.co.uk www.brother.co.uk www.toshibatec.co.uk www.xerox.com www.utaxuk.co.uk www.vantagecomputing.co.uk www.ysoft.com www.paebusiness.com www.hollistechnology.co.uk www.commercial.co.uk www.xeretec.co.uk The sale moves from a transaction to a true partnership where you create solutions for your customers – with your customers Darren Bird The conversation is now based much more around business planning than just product selling. That dynamic adds more value, and should foster even stronger client relations. Alastair Adams