LEADERSHIP
S T R AT E G Y I N T E R V I E W
Stop, look and listen Dealers need to listen and learn if they are to continue to thrive – and bring the next generation of talent into the sector, says BOSS Federation’s SIMON DRAKEFORD
n the door of Simon Drakeford’s office is a decal that reads ‘listening’ and ‘learning’ - two words that he likes to remind himself of, but which also have wider meaning for the office supplies sector. “Part of that is ensuring that I remember to continue to listen, rather than just talk the whole time, which is a bad quality I have, but also because when you stop listening you stop learning, and when you stop learning you stop developing,” he explains. Simon has always had a thirst for learning. Throughout his career which, for the past 15 years, has been as managing director of EO Group, among others – including Office Power – he has sought to remain at the cutting edge of technology and continue to learn and develop his businesses. Listening and learning is something that Simon believes that the office supplies sector needs to be better at, especially in a rapidly changing marketplace.
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ADOPTING NEW TECHNOLOGY “Adopting new technology is a challenge in our sector,” he says. “It needs two things, typically; capital and a healthy attitude towards change. I have said this before,
[16] SUMMER 2022
www.dealersupport.co.uk
but I believe our sector needs to have a fear of not changing that is greater than its fear of change - which is not something I have always seen. “There has been a resilience of bunkering down, waiting for the storm to end, and then coming out and carrying on as normal. I am not sure that is the way to thrive - or even survive - if you think of what has happened over the past three years, and it doesn’t look overly sunny in the future either. Change is a way that you evolve by default, by not hunkering down.” This is something Simon has faced in the past decade as he has developed and marketed Office Power. “We have spent a huge amount of time, resource and money developing not only the technology but also the proposition that leverages that technology and the way we partner with dealers,” he says. “One of the challenges we have is that there is a perception – which is very often incorrect – that we dealers cannot adjust because our sector is a bit ‘I know what I like, and I like what I know.’ As a sector we need to have that inherent thirst for learning, but sometimes we play that down and don’t listen.” OPTIMISM IN TOUGH TIMES The need for dealers to continue to learn and develop is
