01732 759725 08 DISTRIBUTION because you can be a website and just list items, but to move that stock on you need to build trust with dealers and IT resellers/MSPs. TR: What, in your experience, do your reseller customers expect from you as a distributor? LR: I’d say they want fair and honest pricing, alongside a knowledgeable and responsive customer service support team. They want to interact with someone who manages their account, rather than simply being directed to a call centre, or asked to place an order online. We are still very traditional in the sense that whether you are from the managed print or IT hardware side you will be assigned an account representative with an array of product knowledge and understanding. That personal relationship is crucial and not what they get from the wholesalers they have traditionally bought from. Our customer service, value for money offering, responsiveness, stock availability and prompt, reliable delivery are all strengths of ours... plus the fact that we offer a complete solution: you can buy your IT hardware from us; you can buy toner cartridges from us; we’ll recycle your customers’ used IT and consumables; and we have software that allows you and your customers to monitor that recycling and access valuable data while maintaining compliancy with the WEEE Directive and Environmental Regulations. TR: Are you mainly selling IT products to managed print providers or are you exploring other avenues? LR: We’re also targeting pure IT specialists. I think that’s why we’ve grown our IT business so quickly, added to the fact that there are substantially more IT companies in comparison with MPS providers – almost double the number of IT providers per MPS provider in any given location. Technology Reseller (TR): I know ECS as a remanufacturer and recycler of printer parts and consumables. How did you get into the distribution of IT products? Lauren Rabbitte (LR): ECS has always been involved in recycling and remanufacturing. That’s our business model. We collect used empty cartridges, reuse the cartridges and produce a remanufactured product. We test all products at our in-house facility within the UK before release to the market, ensuring a high-quality product with optimal performance. That business is great for us, but as part of our evolution we wanted to expand into the technology sector. If there’s a managed print device in an office, then that dealer should also be competing for IT hardware contracts, including for routers, laptops and VOIP phone systems. You’ll often find dealers have two branches to their business; they’ll have an IT arm and a completely separate managed print arm, when actually those two areas go hand in hand. TR: When did you start diversifying into the distribution of IT products? LR: We started making connections with manufacturers last year and we’ve been expanding our offering ever since. It’s quite a diverse offering and has grown a lot in the past three months (see advertisement on page 33 for list of product categories). Cisco is the most recent vendor to come on board, with its VOIP Phone system. Ubiquiti is another new one. Routers are a big area for us – Draytek, Netgear and Zyxel were the first products we took on because our Operations Director, who has a background in IT, recommended them. One of the things vendors like about us as a distributor is that we understand their products. We’re not just listing items for the sake of it. We understand the products and we know how to sell those products. That’s really important, At Technology Reseller we hear a lot about the opportunities in diversification at a time when technologies and distribution channels are converging. One company demonstrating the benefits of this approach is Effective Consumable Solutions (UK), more commonly known as ECS, an award-winning remanufacturer, recycler and distributor of consumables and parts for printers and MFPs. ECS recently expanded its product and services portfolio to include IT hardware, in order to offer MPS providers an additional revenue stream. Traditional IT resellers and MSPs are now also able to access this offering, with the promise of competitive pricing, short lead times and excellent customer service. James Goulding finds out more from Associate Director Lauren Rabbitte. Lauren Rabbitte With Lauren Rabbitte, Associate Director of ECS Q&A
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDUxNDM=