Empowering dealers through working together

ow would you describe 2022?

HFair-to-middling? Ups and downs? For one managing director, there’s no doubt that last year marked a happy return to normality.

“We had a buoyant year in 2022, coming out of some of the challenges that we all faced the years prior…2022 got the thumbs up from Office Friendly!”

Founded in 1994, Office Friendly’s story began when a group of independent resellers began to team up to secure exclusive trading arrangements. The company was formalised as a not-for-profit in 2000 and today it has around 120 community members.

It’s an interesting model, one where all members have a vested interest in the success of the group, regardless of their size or niche. “We are a co-operative so, irrespective of your size, as a member, you pay the same membership fee on a monthly basis,” explains Jeanette Bresitz, managing director of Office Friendly.

“It’s a member-owned organisation and everybody has an equal share - if we pay a dividend, it’s paid equally across each of the members, irrespective of size. We’ve done everything we possibly can to treat everybody equally.”

The diversity of businesses in the Office Friendly community is one of its biggest strengths. Having peerto-peer support has proven invaluable to members, but there’s a strong management team behind the organisation too. “We have a very strong board of directors,” says Jeanette. “Each of the board members is a nominated member who own one of our dealer businesses. The board is there to give support and advice - they are living and breathing the challenges a dealer’s business goes through today - and they’re on the end of the ‘phone, for any of our members or our team, to ask for help.”

Shaking Off The Past

Despite its long and prosperous history Office Friendly has evolved to become much more than a buying group. Founded as the ‘Office Friendly Dealer Association’, the brand has carried that name and its connotations through the years - but with all the extra strings to its bow now in place, 2022 brought with it an opportunity to rebrand.

“We’ve had this historic ‘OFDA’ flag for so many years but what our organisation was, back when it started, was solely as a buying group for the collective of members who wanted to achieve buying benefits,” says Jeanette. “We wanted to try and demonstrate that we’re so much more than that, and a rebrand was the perfect way to do it.”

The rebranding isn’t just about attracting new or different dealers to the group; it’s also about showcasing the variety of support available to members. Jeanette noted that, while the negotiation of buying terms is still a key part of what the business does, there are many more elements of support available today. “We offer extensive marketing support to members, and a sustainability programme; we can help you learn, train, and develop, we are an extension of our members business.

“Our business development team is there to work with you, to help you take your business to the next level - whatever that looks like. Whether it’s about growth, or finding somebody to pass your business onto because you want to retire, or everything in between - there’s so much more to us - and probably every other dealer group in the UK today - than just negotiating buying terms.”

Looking Forward

While 2022 was a good year for Office Friendly, Jeanette is under no illusion that there are still challenges to be faced in 2023. Like many others, she’s identified price inflation as a major hurdle to be overcome, and believes that, as much as many hoped this would be a short-term blip, it’s now clear that it’s an issue that’s here to stay.

Some of the Office Friendly community members are coping with these challenges by means of operational and infrastructure changes to help mitigate some of the costs. Jeanette believes that staying close to the client is the most important thing of all that they can do right now.

“It’s simply about being transparent with your clients, and helping them understand the cost price challenges - the reasons and rationale for them, and the fact that these price increases are genuine, and where possible introduce the client to solutions that aids their business to be more efficient. Businesses need to be really tight, from a credit control perspective, and keep close to their clients to understand if those debtor days are drifting. What are the reasons for that? Can I help and support, or is there a genuine risk to the business?”

From the Office Friendly side, Jeanette highlights much success in 2022 for its Weaver sustainability programme and its ‘Pioneer’ learning and development arm; in 2023 she sees business consultancy as a key lever to support members, running alongside the general community support available within the group.

“The support we’ve seen being given from one business owner to another throughout the Office Friendly community is phenomenal. Technically, these guys are all competitors in the marketplace, but they absolutely have each other’s backs, and they’re there to support each other. There’s a lot to be said for seeking advice from your peers.”

In-house, Office Friendly plans to continue keeping the business stable and high-performing. With five years of good performance under its belt, it is starting to look at the avenues available to plough profit back into the business for the benefit of members and the supplier community.

“We’ve already started looking at some creative ideas; some of these have come from our board, and we’ve also asked our members to tell us about some of the things that would really help their businesses - I can’t say too much on it today, but we’re some way down that path.”

Core to its strategy for 2023 is a continuing focus on delivering high value services to its members through the variety of programmes on offer. Alongside trade arrangements, sustainability programmes and business consultancy, Office Friendly provides support with M&A, supply chain management and bespoke marketing; whichever direction a business is moving in, Jeanette hopes to be there with a guiding hand.

Firstly, as she said earlier, staying close to clients - and not just to keep an eye on whether or not they are paying their bills. “Keep close - even closer to your clients than you were before - because other businesses will be prospecting them. Make sure you’re present and that they’re constantly reminded of everything that you do for them today.”

Coupled with this is maximising value from existing customers, and ensuring your communications are solidly presented to avoid losing business to competitors. “Don’t assume that your customers know everything about all of the categories that you sell, and all of the services that you offer, because a competitor might use that as an angle to get a foot in the door, when you could have provided that service anyway.”

Finally, diversification. It’s something of a buzzword in the industry at the moment, but Jeanette believes there is real value to be had from diversifying in an intelligent way. “What else is there that you can do within your current infrastructure, in your business setup, without having to invest in additional people, additional site, or additional resource? What else can you offer to your customer? How can you expand or diversify your business to be an even greater trusted supplier to your clients, and to open new doors to prospects?”

Advice To The Industry

With such a diverse array of businesses in the community, Jeanette and her team are well-placed to provide an overview of the challenges facing dealers in today’s market, and to offer advice. She’s the first to admit that it can be difficult to present solutions that will resonate with everyone, all the time, but she shared three key areas that she believes could serve most dealers well as a focus for 2023.

As a final piece of advice. Jeanette points out that existing customers shouldn’t be ignored as prospects for different products and services. Some may have contracts in place with other providers simply because, historically, they’ve always dealt with that company. However, given the impact of inflation and other economic factors, that doesn’t mean they won’t be open to shopping around.

“Try and uncover every stone within your clients’ businesses as you possibly can - it might help you understand some of the things you can fit into your business that will make them even more reliant upon you, now and in the future.”

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