Dealer support January 2012 by Intelligent Media Solutions

January 2012 Issue199

INSPIRING BUSINESS SOLUTIONS FOR DEALERS GOING DIGITAL Document management SPICE WORLD EFTOS show review CAT’S OUT THE BAG Category management

FROM THE EDITOR

Out with the old PEOPLE

DEALER INTERVIEW SOS Office Supplies

Pitch Perfect Hull-based SOS Office Supplies recently won Integra’s Gold Division Dealer Award, having only been a dealer group member for two years, proving that after 35 years of trading the company is still going strong. Company co-director Gary Ketley gives Nina Rosandic an overview of the family business

First and foremost, the team at Dealer Support would like to wish all of our readers and contributors a happy and prosperous New Year. It may have been another difficult year for business, but this seems It’s tough out there, and we make no bones to have prompted strong resolve and steely determination in the office about it – it’s hard work supplies channel. However, judging by the responses to our Big Ask feature (page 12) dealers are ever aware that resting on your laurels is unlikely to be an option for what has already been pipped as another testing year. If addressing your margin strategy is one of your business resolutions, we suggest looking into category management as just a few small changes can make a mighty difference to the balance sheet (page 8). Jonathan Hills takes another look at scanners and document management, and how it may well add another important string to your business bow (page 38). The biggest news to hit the industry this month (see newspaper insert) has been the much-anticipated completion of DS Smith’s sale of CV Spicers to Unipapel, and subsequent sale of the UK and Ireland arm of the company to Better Capital. With such a big move by a pivotal piece of the OP puzzle, it has understandably led to speculation as to what this means for the future of the wholesaler, and indeed it’s customers. 27 Alan Ball insists that this will lead to a “bright future,” of which the plans will be discussed at the Furnology tour that kicks off this month. The Furnology tour is one of the first of a string of events on the 2012 calendar that dealers can and should take advantage of. This month I am preparing to look at the education technology market at BETT, the VOW+ partner event is set to hold some valuable New Year business pointers, and a debut trip to the almighty Paperworld is sure to bring a new dimension to the world of stationery products. I look forward to bumping into some familiar faces! DEALER INTERVIEW

SOS Office Supplies

What’s it like working with family? They say it’s dangerous territory… We have a few family members working here – my sister-in-law works for us aswell and some staff have been here for 20 years or so. We are quite a close-knit family team, but it works well. Being a family business, I’ve worked here since the age of about two! I used to go in every Saturday with my dad to help him out for as long as I can remember.

So, was taking over the reins always on the cards for you and your brother? No! I wanted to be a policeman! My intention was, for some bizarre reason, that when I left school I was going to join the police. I don’t really know why. So, I went to the interviews but you have to be 18-and-a-half to work in the police, so they said the best thing to do was to go away and work with the public, and gain some experience dealing with people on a faceto-face basis. At the time, a guy who worked for my dad at SOS moved away, so a space became available at the company. They asked me to help out and stand in for him until they found someone and I’ve pretty much been here ever since. As for my brother, he is a builder by trade. He used to work for a firm building executivestyle houses. A few years ago there was obviously a bit of a downturn in the building industry, so he took a step back and came to work with me at SOS.

How long have you been with Integra? It’s only our second year, so we’re quite new to this really. It’s the first dealer group we’ve gone with. We’ve always shied away from buying groups in the past, I don’t really know why, but we never got involved with them.

So, how come you decided to take the plunge? We just never thought it was for us, and then we just decided to take a look at it, after talking to one of the sales guys from VOW – he said there were some good discounts to be had from it. We find it more-or-less self-funds itself now, what with the additional discounts and retros we get from people like VOW. Obviously it helps with the marketing side of things and opens your eyes to new possibilities as well. It’s definitely worth our while going forward with Integra. What’s the setup of the company? There’s 10 of us altogether; we have three drivers, although for some of the bigger jobs we all tend to muck in. We also have the showroom staff, a girl doing invoices and accounts, and me, my brother, and my wife do sales. If it’s furniture they’re after, we go down and measure everything up and advise on how they can set up their office. Likewise, we get people who just want to talk to us about stationery, and likewise we go and visit them face-to-face as well. We all work from our location in Hull – we have a significant showroom presence in the town centre and a large warehouse just a two-minute walk across from the shop. How much does the retail side of the business account for? I’d probably say that on the stationery side of things, it’s mostly what we get from business accounts. The retail store tends to lend itself more to furniture sales because people

TURNOVER: £1.2m MARGIN: 36% VANS: Four

page 46

page 26

STAFF: 10

You recently won the Integra Gold division award, that must be a nice way to round off the year. It’s tough out there, and we make no bones about it – it’s hard work and I think everyone’s in

JANUARY 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

“The aesthetics of today’s stationery market is led by colour, fashion and design”

DEALER GROUP: Integra

WEBSITE: www.sos-officesupplies.co.uk

BACK OFFICE: Bluesky Horizon

www.dealersupport.co.uk JANUARY 2012

Nina Rosandic, editor

MANAGING EDITOR Julia Dennison julia.dennison@intelligentmedia.co.uk

DESIGNER Sarah Chivers sarah.chivers@intelligentmedia.co.uk

EDITOR Nina Rosandic nina.rosandic@intelligentmedia.co.uk

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Sinead Coffey sinead.coffey@intelligentmedia.co.uk

REPORTER Jonathan Hills jonathan.hills@intelligentmedia.co.uk

SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Natalia Johnston natalia.johnston@intelligentmedia.co.uk

COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Vicki Baloch vicki.baloch@intelligentmedia.co.uk

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Dan Price dan.price@intelligentmedia.co.uk

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER – MEDIA SOLUTIONS Matthew Moore matthew.moore@intelligentmedia.co.uk

PUBLISHER david collingbourne david.collingbourne@intelligentmedia.co.uk

intelligent media solutions suite 223, business design centre 52 upper street, london N1 0QH tel: 020 7288 6833 fax: 020 7288 6834 email: info@intelligentmedia.co.uk web: www.dealersupport.co.uk web: www.uspmagazine.com

Annual subscriptions are ABC available at a cost of £68.00 for UK and overseas by surface mail, £90.00 for airmail. Subscription enquiries should be sent to the above address Dealer Support is the leading monthly publication for dealers in the business supplies industry. It provides information on the industry (both in the UK and overseas), information for and about the UK’s independent dealers, as well as information and advice on running a small business. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily the views of the publishers. Copyright of all the material published remains with Intelligent Media Solutions Limited. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, copied, stored in an electronic retrieval or transmitted, save with written permission or in accordance with provision of the copyright designs and patent act of 1988. Printed in the UK by Buxton Press www.buxtonpress.co.uk

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INSPIRING BUSINESS SOLUTIONS FOR DEALERS

Contents January 2012

INDUSTRY

08 The cat’s out the bag Why dealers should be considering category management 12 Team spirit Independent dealers look at taking on the big boys in 2012 16 EFTOS Review Welcome to the Spicers annual show 18 What we learned this month Facts, figures and banter from across the globe 22 A step ahead We check in with third-place IDS League winner WG Office Supplies

PEOPLE 26 Perfect Pitch SOS Office Supplies’ Gary Ketley gets to the point 32 Picking Cottam The life of one-man-band dealer Jonathan Cottam

MANAGEMENT

38 Grow Your Business This month: Scanners and document management 42 A little less conversation Health and safety matters 44 How to manage Jo Owens breaks down management myths

and finally 46 Fashioning a brand Pukka Pad’s Chris Stott goes en vogue

Olivetti has been pioneering the launch of its diverse range of products and solutions over the last 2 years, ensuring its sales channels are able to expand the products and services, they provide, to both existing customers and to other markets they may be unfamiliar with. Now Olivetti has built up one of the largest, and probably most diverse, product portfolios that the business, IT, retail, education, banking and gaming markets have ever seen. Not only does Olivetti’s business product range offer a vast array of colour and black and white A3 and A4 MFPs, and desktop solutions, to suit virtually any type of business printing, copying and document management application, but it has a very successful range of range of 10” to 15” laptops, 10” and 7” Android touch tablet PCs and a range of interactive digital whiteboards that can be used for all manner of education and business training purposes.

Seeking out New Horizons for the Channel

www.olivetti.co.uk Olivetti is one of the world’s leading banking equipment suppliers, providing behind the scenes, pass-book printers, readers and scanners within major banks and building societies world-wide, and is also a provider of self-service ATM solutions and display equipment for imparting information to customers while they queue or reside in waiting rooms. Olivetti’s ranges are available through their dealer and distributor network only in the UK. There is no direct sales operation. Olivetti provides full sales and technical training and provide dedicated account management, to help all dealers through the transition to sell these products to new markets. This year Olivetti will be launching it’s “Best for Colour” Dealer programme, to encourage its existing dealers, and any new dealers who join this year, to benet from better pricing, on-going training and assistance to promote themselves as a “Best for Colour” dealer, and also the end-user who will be able to identify who to contact the the very best in colour sales, service and support. If you are interested in nding out more about Olivetti, its product range and its forthcoming “Best for Colour” Programme, please contact us.

01908 547980

email: c.gordge@olivetti.com

Industry

feature

The cat’s out the bag Category management may not be the most glamorous phrase, but it is an essential part of ensuring a successful business model. Matthew Jane looks at category management and how dealers can take some basic steps to improve in this area

ith the ever expanding selection of products offered by office supplies dealers, customers are in danger of being caught like a rabbit in the headlights of a blinding array of choices for even the most basic of items. Category management is fundamental to the success of an office supplies dealership – it is the job of the dealer to empower customers to make the appropriate choice for their individual needs to ensure they get the best products for the job, at the best prices, while ensuring continued profitable business for dealers. Category management may sound like a convoluted expression, but it is essentially just being able to efficiently meet consumer needs by assessing the current performance of a category, or trend, against the market or competitors. “Most importantly it’s about understanding the different types of consumers, their different needs and ensuring that the product offering meets these needs,” explains Gregg Corbett, MD of Avery Office Products. “Category management is such an important area for dealers as it helps provide an essential understanding of the categories, brands and products that generate the dealer a profit and not just top line sales – the difference and balance between vanity and sanity is more important than ever!”

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

“Dealers, in many cases, are losing margin because at face value they believe they are buying better”

Effective category management strategies can empower dealers to drive more business, generate more profit and provide their customers with a more relevant service. “Rather than selling products without any understanding of cash margin, profit or activity, category management allows you to fully understand, within a specific category: your brand; cash margin generated against other brands; and volume as a percentage of your total sales,” explains Alan Ball, MD of Spicers. “This gives control and allows you to make strategic rather than tactical, or no decisions on your product portfolio.”

Common mistakes When looking at the options for category management, Anderson Owens, category analysis manager at 3M, believes dealers are largely guilty of making some common mistakes. “Firstly, we do not spend enough time thinking like a consumer,” he explains. “Do we really know what triggers them to make a purchase? This is vital information that dealers need. We also do not spend enough time with the data to get a handle on consumer behaviour.” Owens also believes that dealers do not make it easy enough for customers to buy products, and points

Feature

to the humble stapler as a prime example. “In any catalogue, there will be between 45 and 80 different staplers,” he explains. “The customer must make a decision on whether they want a handheld or desk mounted; do they want an electric or a manual? They need to know how each one can help them meet their requirements. We are often guilty of assuming that the customer knows as much as we do.” This lack of process and clear strategy can often be to the detriment of not just the consumer, in terms of lack of buying knowledge, but also to the dealer in terms of lack of profit margin. “Dealers sell products without understanding the impact on their business and in many cases are losing margin because at face value they believe they are buying better. In short, category management can grow your margin for the same level of sales,” explains Ball. “Category management provides direction and focus for dealers,” says Corbett. “It helps to give salespeople, whether they are on the phone or on the street, a clear insight into which products they should be promoting when, and with which complimentary offering, in order to lead to a stronger basket of product and ultimately a

“Category management provides focus for dealers. It helps to give salespeople a clear insight into which products they should be promoting”

healthier business. While this may sound like the basics – it really can make a massive difference to a dealer’s bottom line.” Corbett believes that, when it is done well, category management can give resellers “the opportunity to maximise profitability through product innovation, appropriate pricing, effective display and promotions, and compelling consumer communications”.

Making the most In terms of the categories that dealers would be advised to focus on, there is a wealth of possibility and options for delivering a management system. This applies to both emerging categories, and existing ones. “Take paper, as a category – do you offer a ‘good’, ‘better’, ‘best’ offer or are your pricing policies priced to accommodate the market?” asks Ball. “Within each category you should offer a product that is a value proposition and priced as ‘good’, then you take a better quality line and price as your ‘better’, with added selling features and benefits, and finally you have your premium line, which is priced as your ‘best’. “In order to make sure you maintain cash margin, you then need to take all the offers in the ‘good’ brands

www.dealersupport.co.uk january 2012

Industry

feature

and work out the cash margin in pounds, not percentage, and pick the one that offers most opportunity, same with ‘better’ and ‘best’. That way you have a range that is fit for purpose, maximises your cash margin in pounds and not meaningless percentages,” adds Ball. Another aspect that dealers should capitalise on is cross-selling; an area where category management can greatly assist in delivering. “We are all guilty of missing opportunities here,” says Owens. “If I buy a suit, I will always be asked if I need shoes or a shirt, and office supplies dealers should be no different. Take Post-It notes, we write on these. But how often do you see promotions to sell Post-It notes with pens?” It may be a basic opportunity that dealers can look into, but this strategy could equally be served across an entire dealer’s range.

Thinking local One recent development that could have a bearing on category management decisions is the government’s centralised category procurement policy, whereby all government procurement will be done through a centralised and standardised system. This could potentially have a bearing on office supplies dealers, but Ball suggests the key is to think and act locally. As this is a comparatively new strategy, there is every possibility that the chosen supplier will suffer teething troubles, and Ball says it is the job of the local dealer to be there whenever problems arise, and be ready to supply. “In reality even though this central system will order mainlines, local currency and petty cash claims will ensure product is available,” he says. This is where being a local supplier will pay dividends for dealers. By building and maintaining a positive relationship as a local supplier, dealers will find themselves in a much stronger position in the market. Owens believes that focusing on offering an informed choice, through excellent customer service and expert advice, will stand independent dealers in a strong position. “When I do category management training, I always ask delegates to think about their favourite shop. When I ask them why they like that store, very few will say price. More often than not it is about close proximity and level of service. This is a model that dealers should bear in mind,” he explains.

Effective category management With so much potential and boundless possibilities facing dealers, adopting the right approach for each business is vital. “Ultimately my advice for dealers would always be to keep it simple,” says Corbett. “If you don’t understand what you’re trying to achieve from category management, your sales team won’t either and the whole process becomes time consuming and wasteful, rather than the value-adding process it should be.” Ball says dealers should forget about brand loyalty, and instead buy based on the category strategy. “For example, just because you get a great deal from a supplier on filing does not mean the deal is great on shredders,” he explains. “Take a close look at each and every category, go through the same exercise as shown with each one and select accordingly.” The essence of effective category management is a fairly basic principle, but when done correctly, can have huge benefits for profitability. “This is not rocket science,” concludes Owens. “It’s common sense, and if we just begin to think like consumers, we will all do a better job.” DS

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

An eight step cycle of category management 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Define the category Assess the role of the category Assess the performance Set objectives and targets, perhaps with a scorecard Devise strategies Set category tactics Implement the strategies Review the process

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Industry

big ask

Team Spirit as we embark on a fresh new year, Dealer Support asks independent dealers what they feel the biggest challenges will be for the industry in 2012 and the resolutions they are set to put in place to tackle them

nce again, we are looking back over what has been a tempestuous year, from euro crisis to spending cuts, against a backdrop of global weather disasters denting the supply chain and double dip recession fear gripping the nation. However, it’s encouraging to see that dealers are standing strong and proactively looking down the varied avenues of opportunity.

BIG ASK

In terms of business, how would you sum up 2011?

Derek Evans Home and Office

Tom Atkins Laserlife

“We have grown in 2011 by 70%, year on year, but as this is only our second year, i wouldn’t expect us to be up. “We have found that a lot of smaller businesses like dealing with a local company and have seen a growth in businesses paying cash for stationery as they go along. but, as with any good retail, it’s promote or die.”

“it has been a good year for new business. There is still room in the marketplace for service-driven cost effective solutions. Confidence is still the key approach. People will want to work with you if you are doing things the right way.”

Adrian Walker St Thomas Stationers “Despite challenging times, we have been successful this year with both turnover and gross margin improvements. We have further developed our marketing approach and feel that we are in a great position to take advantage of the tough conditions over the next couple of years. Our sales team has focussed on promoting the benefits of local procurement, which we will be continuing in the coming year.”

John Fitton Office Supplies Now “2011 has been a successful year; we have grown by 25% year on year. a substantial part of this growth has been in the education market, which looks set to continue into 2012.”

Mike Bevan Octopus Office Products “This year has been fairly good for us, with a steady growth from new business. We have seen our costs in terms of fuel and general expenses increase, but the increase in business has been sufficient enough to absorb these.”

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

Dana Whitehouse B.O.S.Sales “The first and second quarters were fairly average, the third quarter was below average, but the final quarter rallied and saw good growth. Our furniture sales have been particularly strong in the last few months of the year, however our overall profits for the year are down. “Despite the doom and gloom in the news, many of my customers remain upbeat about prospects for 2012.”

Lance Rice South West Office Supplies “We have only been going for 18 months – although i had a franchise before that and have kept 90% of customers, we are seeing an increase in new clients every week, however, new price rises are going to be a challenge. “Our successes this year have been teaming up with local business organisations to offer member discounts, and gaining two new schools from one mailer and finding out they love our service, particularly as we provide next day instead of next month delivery.”

Alan Gray Sarratt Office Supplies “We have maintained both turnover and margin through hard work, focus and working ever

closer with our clients. Promos and blitz days have really helped. We have employed two new sales girls this year who are based in the office 90% of the time. Together they are winning eight to 10 clients on average per month. With this success we look forward to a bright future and are hoping to recruit an additional sales person in January or February.”

Jonathan Barber Direct Business Supplies “a tough year for many, but potential growth for small to medium dealers can still be seen for those who can prove service is stronger than just price.”

Helen Pugh First Stop Stationers “business has been very different this year as we now have two retail stores and websites. We have seen growth in our new retail shop and our websites, which has been good. We have been hit slightly on our greetings card sales due to the opening of a Card Factory shop in the town, but we have increased our stationery business to compensate.”

Helen Pitt Pittstop Stationers “sales are slightly up on last year and i feel that local companies want to support local suppliers. it’s a case of helping each other in difficult times. Challenges have mostly come from the speed of changes introduced by the government; in one three-month period almost every local training and recruitment company we supply went into liquidation or administration due to changes to grants and funding that came with no warning.”

big ask

BIG ASK

What are your concerns for 2012? Derek Evans Home and Office

Dana Whitehouse B.O.S.Sales

Helen Pugh First Stop Stationers

“Price increases from our suppliers – can we pass them on, or is our margin going to be hit?”

“Pessimism in markets due to the world economic situation, and the effect of the Olympics and Queen’s Jubilee on trade. Also, general concerns about the stability of the wholesale channel.”

“The biggest challenge is ensuring that we have what consumers want. We are finding that consumers are buying essentials now, which is quite understandable.”

Adrian Walker St Thomas Stationers “The biggest challenge for us in the coming year is how to combat the margin erosion that will continue because of the sheer desperation of some office supplies companies to sell product at any price.”

John Fitton Office Supplies Now “Ensuring we continue to manage credit control and limit any bad debts.”

Mike Bevan Octopus Office Products “The biggest challenge in 2012 will come about if the public sector cuts filter down to the private sector and businesses suffer. I think this will happen, I’m just not sure to what extent.”

Tom Atkins Laserlife “The biggest challenge is maintaining margin.”

Lance Rice South West Office Supplies “Getting finance from the bank.”

Alan Gray Sarratt Office Supplies “Our biggest challenge is to retain our larger existing clients and hope that they do not downsize, move away or close. “We have found that although there is less business around, the prices and supply of goods is quite settled, which is a great help, plus there is less intense competition from other dealers and the big boys. “On a bigger scale, let’s hope the suppliers remain in business and well financed during what will undoubtedly be a very difficult year or two. The Eurozone remains very unsettled and nobody knows how the problems will pan out.”

Helen Pitt Pittstop Stationers “Bad debts. When firms we have supplied for many years hit sudden financial hardship and fold, there is almost no way to recover money. It is all very well the government talking about encouraging banks to lend money to businesses, but this can sometimes just support reckless or ‘pie in the sky’ ideas. I would like to see more support for small businesses who have to bear the cost of bad debts themselves – perhaps a central fund where we could reclaim a percentage of the losses. I know we can reclaim the VAT and offset losses against profits, but a little extra financial recognition of the role we play would be a big help. Insurance and factoring are prohibitively expensive and often discourage customers. Sometimes I feel like changing our name to ‘Pittstop Bank’, as offering credit facilities is the only way I can compete against the ‘big boys’.”

www.dealersupport.co.uk january 2012

Industry

big ask

BIG ASK

What are your New Year business resolutions? Derek Evans Home and Office

Tom Atkins Laserlife

“We are looking at growing our commercial business, telesales and web sales.”

“To win more new business, as well as constantly striving to improve processes within our business.”

Adrian Walker St Thomas Stationers

Dana Whitehouse B.O.S.Sales

“To better communicate to our customers the huge benefits of purchasing locally, to learn how to take advantage of the new offerings by the wholesalers in the FM market, and to channel more of the routine orders through our website.”

“Our priority is to increase our customer base and grow margins with existing customers. We are also looking to do more business directly with manufacturers/suppliers to negate issues with wholesalers and boost margins.”

Jonathan Barber Direct Business Supplies

John Fitton Office Supplies Now

Lance Rice South West Office Supplies

Helen Pugh First Stop Stationers

“To grow the education side of the business further, develop the managed print services offering and delegate more!”

“Now that we have a good customer base to work from, we will be working on getting our website to produce higher turnover. Our price strategy will be paramount. We are now in the position to concentrate on gaining schools and larger clients.”

“We have just revamped our website and now we are looking to improve on our offerings.”

Mike Bevan Octopus Office Products “Our New Year’s resolution is that we will be focusing on more new business again next year, with the help of a couple of new staff members added to the team.”

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

Alan Gray Sarratt Office Supplies “We are currently looking at a full online shop front through acquisition or new development.

We will continue to approach other dealers where there is a possibility of acquisition. My New Year’s resolution is not to get upset when, on the odd occasion, we lose. When I say ‘we’, I mean the richest club in the world; Manchester City. Come on you Blues!”

“We are about to target key industries and businesses, focusing on contract pricing for the New Year.”

Helen Pitt Pittstop Stationers “Web marketing is becoming increasingly relevant, so that is the area that needs looking at first. Also every year I make a resolution to make more visits and phone calls – maybe 2012 is the year I can sustain the intention!” DS

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Industry

report EFTOS

Everything is illuminated More than 1,100 dealers, manufacturers, suppliers and industry professionals came together at the Spicers’ Everything for the Office Show. Nina Rosandic went along for the ride and to get a first look at the wholesaler’s new book

aving heard a lot of hype surrounding the event, I was eagerly anticipating Spicers Everything for the Office Show (EFTOS) – not least for the unveiling of the much talked about 2012 catalogue. Now in it’s 12th year, EFTOS (formally known as SOS) took place at the Jaguar Exhibition Hall, Ricoh Arena, Coventry on the 7 and 8 December, allowing the dealer channel the chance to discuss the latest opportunities and challenges in the office products market.

Industry hotspot It has been a hot topic that Spicers has this year removed 4,000 products from its existing catalogue, and replaced them with a new carefully selected 2,000. This reconciliation has led to a surge of new suppliers filling in

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

report EFTOS

where others have left off. The show gave dealers the chance to meet the new suppliers, such as Jushua, Fosse and Sigel, and speak first hand to the manufacturers about how the new product inclusions will drive sales in the New Year. The show was also supported by industry staples including Acco, Avery Dennison, Brother, Bunzl, HP, Newell Rubbermaid and Talk Paper. With over 100 stands and areas dedicated to workplace solutions, business machines and traditional office products; from expanded product areas to marketing and sales support; the event has clearly been designed by Spicers as a one-stop-shop for its customers. The event was held alongside the Breakthrough Marketing conference, which featured a programme of speakers with expert knowledge in the office products market, headlined by two industry experts hailing from across the pond: Laura Gale, SVP of marketing for US wholesaler United Stationers, and Jennifer Smith, owner and CEO of reseller Innovative Office Solutions of Minneapolis (MN) – the fastest growing reseller in the US, who tripled sales to $50m+ in four years. Bluefish Office Products’ Mark Heath co-presented with ECi’s CEO Ron Books and COO Trevor Gruenewal, demonstrating new technology innovations to dealers. The session was concluded with an inspiring talk from CEO of Spicers UK and Ireland, Alan Ball. A dedicated e-commerce area included Spicers Sprintwise MPS, Spicers Academy and P1 Training and Development, along with other dedicated online marketing tools, served as reinforcement that online and digital technology is gaining momentum in the sector. The show was also supported by three dealer groups: Integra; Office Club; and XPD, who all had a presence at the show. Inspirational keynote speaker, Sir Clive Woodward, headlined the seminar programme, that included educational seminars on ‘how to make the most out of your 2012 Big Book’ and ‘delivering growth with workplace and technology’, during which Spicers representatives brought these two product areas to the fore, gave a rundown on sales figures, tips for selling and highlighted how the new product breakdown has come as a direct result of the past year’s trends. For example, Spicers representatives Louise Thomson and Derren Stock cited the facilities management market as worth £60bn, 95% of which is service-based, leaving an annual opportunity of £5bn worth of product-based sales – which is equal to the office products market. The duo emphasized the importance of identifying new buyers for this market by addressing your existing client base and unlocking potential elsewhere in the company. Also, they highlighted the importance of seasonal requirements, and how they can be maximised throughout the year. The new Workplace Solutions catalogue from Spicers is due to launch April 2012.

Rewriting the book So, aside from the products – what’s new with the catalogue? And more importantly, will it drive more sales to dealers’ doorsteps? Spicers has done extensive research to come up with a fresh design for the new catalogue, following interviews with 500 consumers about how they use catalogues to shop, and any changes or improvements that could make life easier. The result: the layout is noticeably more accessible. Selected ‘hero’ products have been chosen and stand out on the page in

block colour boxes, and speech bubbles have been introduced to point out key product info and highlight any new products. Product categories have been increased from 13 to 22 for ease of navigation, sub-divided into four catch-all categories: office supplies; furniture store; workplace solutions; and technology products. In the office supplies and furniture sections the number of SKUs has been reduced to avoid duplication and eliminate poor sellers. The workplace solutions section has been extended to include new products from the specialised catalogue, and in terms of technology products, following a business machine category turnover increase of 8.4% between April 2010 and October 2011, there has been an overhaul, with new brands and ranges to maximize on a potentially lucrative marketplace in the New Year. Among the newly introduced products are many new printers, ipad and netbook cases, exclusive Optoma projectors (solely distributed to the stationery channel by Spicers), and a further refresh of digital dictation hardware. With the idea of branding on the agenda, the wholesaler’s 5 Star range, boldly showcased throughout the catalogue, has been rebranded with a more vibrant and eye-catching design, bolstered by a charitable trust donation that comes with every sale. The notion of the importance of branding has also been addressed throughout with ‘shop-in-shop’ features, whereby customers are drawn to manufacturer-branded pages. The wholesaler also previewed Flowers2Fastcars; a consumer incentive scheme in partnership with ACCO that allows consumers to earn points in exchange for more than 4,000 gifts throughout 2012. Spicers MD Alan Ball says of the scheme: “It is great news for our dealers and their clients that we are able to offer this exclusive programme with our partner ACCO across the UK and Ireland and shows our continued ability to add value to our dealer programme.”

Into the night The opening day culminated in a formal gala dinner with entertainment from Comedien Paul Thorne and the second ‘Everything for the Office Awards’, celebrating the best innovations in promotional support and services. The ‘Best Stand at EFTOS 2011’ accolade was awarded to Esselte for its “amazing design, creativity and execution which really took centre stage at the show”. DS

And the winners are...

The Everything for the Office Awards were judged by the inventory, merchandising and marketing teams from Spicers

Best Promotional Support / Activity 2011 ACCO Brands

Best Supplier for Service Brother

New Supplier of the Year Safescan

Overall supplier of the Year Hamelin

www.dealersupport.co.uk january 2012

Industry

what we learned this month

What we learned this month A round-up of office supplies tidbits and trivia from the last few weeks STATS AND FACTS

$96.8bn

In the news

The US office services and supplies industry expected to increase to this value by the end of 2015 (Research and Markets)

top tweet @Evo_Software I went onto Dragons’ Den with a pencil that had a rubber on each end. They couldn’t see the point. #OPJokes

quote unquote The general consensus amongst British workers is that the option to work remotely, with better technology, would help them to work more efficiently – a promising statistic for the British economy as we prepare for the New Year Mark Weston from LG UK, commenting on findings of an LG survey of 2,000 office workers

DATES FOR THE DIARY Paperworld What: International trade fair for paper, office supplies and stationery Where: Messe Frankfurt When: 28-31 January Info: http://paperworld. messefrankfurt.com Antalis Reseller Roadshow What: Free dealer business events Where: Sporting venues nationwide When: 10 January – 2 February Info: www.antalis-mcnaughton. co.uk/2012events

Spicers Furnology Tour What: The wholesaler’s new furniture showcase Where: Nationwide When: 24 January – 19 February Info: www.spicers.co.uk Vow+ Partner Event What: The wholesaler event brings in New Year with business presentations, Interactive Zone and networking dinner Where: St. John’s Hotel, Solihull When: 3 February Info: www.antalis-mcnaughton. co.uk/2012events

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

OP extinction list Office supplies firm Pixmania Pro has enlisted a panel of specialists to sift through sales data to see which office products will stand the test of time in years to come. The company has compiled a list of ‘most endangered’ office products, with ten prime targets they believe could disappear from desks by the end of 2012. In first place is the desk phone, declining the fastest due to the rise of the smartphone. In second and third place are USB sticks and blank CDs. The increasing use of cloud networks is expected to spell the end for these once essential PC accessories. The ‘paperless office’ is said to be pushing the demise of scanners, in-trays and filing cabinets. Online messaging is said to be overriding the office notice board and Post-Its. Finally, the water cooler made tenth place with filtered water and plumbed-in systems on the rise.

Industry

vendor profile Portucel Soporcel

A green paper chain Portugese paper manufacturer, the Portucel Soporcel group, wellknown for its office paper brands Navigator and Discovery, among others, is a leader in the field of sustainable paper manufacturing. All of its paper is produced to the highest environmental standards, and it takes great care to ensure the long-term welfare of the forest from which it comes. Dealer Support finds out more

ortuguese paper firm, the Portucel Soporcel group, manufactures paper from raw materials sourced from forests specifically planted for the purpose, and sustainably managed. The paper produced is truly ecological, biodegradable and recyclable, so when consumers print on its paper, they are contributing towards the sustainability of the forests from which the original wood is obtained.

A company with a vision Over the last decade, the Portucel Soporcel group has pioneered lightweight paper for office applications without compromising printing quality and machine performance and has successfully developed 75 and 70 g/m2 office paper, of a quality comparable to standard 80 g/m2 papers. Lightweight office paper is today one of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cutting-edge environmental products, and a segment in which the group is the European leader, holding a market share of more than 70% (Cepi to Cepi deliveries). A weight reduction of five or 10g per m2 means more efficient use of resources, as the same number of reams can be produced from fewer resources (wood, water and energy) and less waste is created. This is achieved without jeopardizing print quality and runnability: the 75 g/m2 product is an alternative to the existing standard European office papers in 80 g/m2. This has been possible due to the raw materials used and the technology applied to produce these papers. The Portucel Soporcel group has been actively involved in a number of international and national organisations working towards sustainable development objectives and socially responsible practices, namely the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) since 1995 and RSE Portugal, the Portuguese Association for Corporate Social Responsibility, since 2002. The group also signed up to Countdown 2010, an international initiative to halt biodiversity loss, and has established a Biodiversity Agreement with the ICNB â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the Portuguese Institute for Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation. The Portucel Soporcel group attaches priority to ensuring sustainable management and biodiversity conservation in its forest plantations, eco-efficient production, energy production from renewable sources, and to investment and research in technology and innovation. The company is an NGP Partner sharing with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) the New Generation Plantations concept and

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

Vendor profile Portucel Soporcel

involved in its continuous improvement and implementation. The company is a member of Paper Profile, an environmental product declaration issued by a group of leading European manufacturers on a voluntary basis, and regularly publishes a sustainability report, the most recent of which was rated A+ in the GRI ranking. The Portucel Soporcel group has also recently been licensed to use the European Union Ecolabel on its paper. In the office stationery and printing paper segment, the Ecolabel rules require the use of certified timber of known provenance and ban the use of substances harmful to the environment and human health. The rules also call for the use of renewable energy, implementation of a rigorous waste management system and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as of air and water pollution. The forests managed by the company are FSC-FM and PEFC-FM certified. All mills are chain of custody certified (FSC and PEFC), as well as certified under ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 and ISO 9001. Biodiversity conservation is a central feature of the group’s development strategy and a key component of its forest management model. In partnership with the WWF Mediterranean office it took part in a biodiversity project (2005-07) resulting in classification of a significant part of the certified woodlands managed by the group as High Conservation Value areas, due to their levels of biodiversity and other relevant cultural factors. The Portucel Soporcel group´s forest nurseries capacity is growing, enabling an annual production of around 12 million plants of various species, ready to populate the Iberian woodlands.

The wood from the trees Woodlands play an important social role in Portugal. The country has the highest proportion of privately owned forest of any European country and the industry accounts for only a small share of this land. Eighty-five per cent of forest landowners have very small holdings (less than three hectares). The company has established close technical contacts with the local associations of forest growers in order to increase the proportion of certified forests in Portugal. Portugal’s woodlands have grown in parallel with the country’s paper industry and official figures point to growth in area of 77% over the period 1902 to 2006. Today, Portugal’s forests cover almost 40% of its territory, with ownership is divided between more than 400,000 forest growers. In addition to certification of its own forests, the company is making every effort to increase the area of certified forests in Portugal, and has pioneered the paying of a premium price for purchases of FSC- and PEFC-certified wood for its mills, a fact recognised by the UN report ‘Forest Products Annual Market Review 2007-2008’, published by FAO/UNECE.

Renewable energy and waste reduction

“Aware of its responsibility for managing a valuable natural resource in the form of its forest plantations, the Portucel Soporcel group is particularly attentive to sustainability issues”

The company has also assigned top priority to minimising its environmental impact in the production of pulp and paper and to investing in environmental protection at its industrial sites, investing heavily in waste reduction, in saving water resources, in reducing air emissions and other fields. Renewable energy is the main source of energy used for pulp and papermaking – 65% in 2010 – and the group has implemented capital projects in this field as well. A significant reduction in CO2 fossil emissions has been achieved in recent years. In the decade up to 2010, the group recorded a 46% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions per tonne of product manufactured (pulp and paper). Overall, in the 10 years up to 2010, the company also achieved a 49% reduction in water consumption per tonne of product manufactured (pulp and paper). Portucel Soporcel paper is predominantly made of Eucalyptus globulus, a very efficient paper tree species. Its thick leaves, which hang vertically, lose less water through transpiration and efficiently direct precipitation to the soil. As an evergreen species it grows during the autumn and winter seasons and the lower lignin content of its wood means that fewer chemicals are needed for pulping, while the thick fibre wall makes for excellent opacity and bulk in the paper produced. Using this tree species, paper is produced using a smaller volume of timber (up to 46% less wood when compared with certain conifers such cypress or pine), and after use it is also a highly valuable resource for recycling, due to its high virgin fibre content.

Future forward In 2009, the company opened a new paper mill in Setúbal, Portugal. The largest and most sophisticated in the world for the production of uncoated woodfree (UWF) paper, the mill uses modern paper machines and advanced technology, together with the unique raw materials, which result in an eco-efficient process and an unmatched quality in papermaking. DS

www.dealersupport.co.uk january 2012

INDUSTRY

IDS LEAGUE

IDs leAgue

The guys behind WG Ofﬁce Supplies are no strangers to the spotlight, having twice topped our IDS League, among an ever-growing long list of sector accolades. Nina Rosandic talks to MD Paul Deavin and co-director Eddie Richards about being frontrunners in the industry

g was established 36 years ago and the company continues to see massive growth, peaking this year with the much coveted Boss 2011 Dealer of the Year (over £5m) award. eddie Richards, co-director, attributes this to an awareness of the need to move with the times. “In this industry, on the face of it, there’s quite a lot of similarity in terms of product offering. one of the things we’ve been keen to do, spearheaded by Paul, is re-engineer the business constantly.” The company managed to grow its revenue by £200,000 between 2009 and 2010, while holding onto an impressive gross margin of 46.5% (a 0.6% increase on the 2009 figures). not only that but the company has managed to decrease its sales and admin costs in the same year and increase net profit from £2.29m to £3.45m. Another key to the company’s success lies in its customer service and the guys pride themselves on the quality of their team. “What makes us unique as an independent, is that the team in the office know each other’s jobs and the manpower is always where it’s needed. In any other company, a customer services person is a customer services person. here people’s jobs are varied, they’re not doing the same thing every day – every day is different,” says MD Paul Deavin. The company has an average staff retention rate of 11 years, a figure which shows that the appreciation is mutual.

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

In order to sustain a business, it is important that the bottom line is kept in check and Wg upholds this as a priority, keeping expenses down as low as possible. Richards explains: “We have one of the lowest operating costs in the industry. Because of that we have a very good profit. for example, you normally find that a lot of cost comes down to building costs and square metres. We are in a great location.” The company’s Dartford hQ, although ﬂanked by a number of neighbouring competitors, is “not expensive and offers great transport links,” explains Deavin. The company also saves money in its operations and delivery costs by looking to more eco-friendly practices. eCo fRIenDs

Wg has put a strong focus on its environmental credentials, and is Iso 14001 certified, but it goes further than that, as Richards describes: “In terms of deciding to take the green route, we didn’t just do what everyone else does and got our Iso – we also looked at how we operate within our own business and where we can differentiate ourselves from our competitors.” Wg has a full ﬂeet of eco-friendly vehicles that run off of liquid propane gas (lPg), and the company has found its fuel and deliveries expenses slashed with the congestion charge-exempt vehicles. “from a business standpoint, its actually a very cost-effective way of delivering your goods because of the price of gas, considering how the prices of petrol and diesel are rocketing. If you halve your fuel bill, which lPg will do, that’s several thousand pounds per vehicle per year. If you then start looking at congestion charges, we’re also saving on that. It’s basically working smartly,” says

ids league

The WG office team

Richards. “But, most importantly, we save on polluting the environment.“ The company commits to this sustainable approach from beginning to end. “We push the carbonneutral copier paper from Integra initiative, which is the single biggest stationery item bought. The packaging is recycled, the ‘product is recycled and it’s delivered in a low carbon vehicle. That’s pretty good for an environment statement,” says Richards. As Deavin goes on to explain, if you want to win big contracts, “companies are looking for compliance”. Winning big business

WG is comfortable with working on larger accounts, having recently announced its latest deal in December, which will see WG supplying the Reed Group with office supplies for the next two years. The recruitment company accounts for 253 offices nationwide and over 3,000 staff. The deal followed a successful three-month trial period, an approach the team finds works well when it comes to winning big business. The web of online

One thing that WG has been keen to keep ahead of the game on is its online presence, having launched a new website and mobile app last January, to push ahead a new branding and logo. “The website is quick, the search functionality is fantastic and it looks modern. It’s been a long process and a big investment but we’ve seen lots of customers move over from email ordering to web ordering.” The website was also chosen as it allows for indepth gap analysis, allowing the team to identify key sales opportunities.

The team is particularly proud of the WG mobile application, as the first independent dealer to embrace this channel of customer communication. “We invested heavily in the first industry Apple app. No matter what comes after, we were the first people in the industry with the foresight to offer it. People will be using these iPads more and more and more, and you have to be prepared,” says Deavin. The future’s bright

The momentum doesn’t seem to be tiring for WG, as Richards points out: “We’re seeing our margins going up, it’s still going in the right direction. “ Looking to the future, the team is relentless as ever. “We’re really going to go for it, “ says Deavin, who is not ready to let go of the reins for 2012. “We’ve had a very successful year and we’re looking to go into the New Year with a very, very aggressive marketing strategy.” As part of this strategy, WG is one of the first to sign up to Spicers’ spring initiative. “Spicers has been fantastically supportive and we think the new programme will be very beneficial to us,” he says. Also, the company will be kicking off a 72-week radio advertising campaign with LBC Radio in January, pushing the name and brand ever forward. When it comes to communicating with fellow dealers, Richards maintains that the team at WG is happy to share its knowledge and know-how with fellow dealers. “Even for those who are forward-thinking, they may not have the capital to take it forward, and the banks won’t lend them the money. There are a lot of dealers out there hanging on by their fingernails, but they’ll go if they don’t seek help, or look at changing the way they work, or considering partnerships,” he says. DS

What makes us unique as an independent, is that the team in the office know each other’s jobs and the manpower is always where it’s needed

www.dealersupport.co.uk january 2012

futures campaign

The landscape of business supplies is changing... The future of the office supplies industry is here. Are you ready? To help its readers compete in an increasingly cut-throat and changing market, Dealer Support is partnering with technology firm Brother on a series of articles exploring the future of business supplies and the independent channel. Read on for the first of these essential survival guidesâ&#x20AC;Ś

in partnership with

Some inconvenient truths

The times, they are most certainly a-changin’ – and if you’re not careful, you and your business will fall behind. A new generation of office workers works differently, with a different set of purchasing priorities and products. As we enter the New Year, it’s time to look to the future. Dealer Support speaks to Phil Jones, sales and marketing director at Brother UK

futures campaign

s readers of the magazine and decision-makers at your business, it’s more than likely you either have or are contemplating buying an iPad. Indeed, within only 90 days of its release, 50% of Fortune 100 companies were using the tablet for work and a survey by Frost and Sullivan shows that iPad usage in office workplaces is linked to increased employee productivity, reduced paperwork, and increased revenue. As a result, the firm estimates that the mobile-office application market in North America could reach $6.85bn in 2015, up from an estimated $1.76bn last year. Of course, that is the US – but if any industry has learned that whatever happens over there tends to follow suit over here, it’s the office products industry. With a change in work styles, and products used, those whose job it is to provide supplies to these businesses had better think fast – with declining sales of traditional office products, the answer to improving sales in the independent business supplies channel exist elsewhere. It’s a hard-hitting truth that many will find hard to swallow, but if there is ever a time for change, the time is now. Future forward

With this in mind, Brother UK is working with Dealer Support on a series of articles over the next few issues highlighting the significant changes set to hit the market. This ‘Futures Campaign’ will provide some uncomfortable truths about what to expect from the marketplace, presented in a thoughtprovoking way that will help ensure the independent dealers reading this magazine are players in the future marketplace – one where pens, paper and stationery may play second fiddle to tablets, the cloud and apps. Brother UK’s sales and marketing director, Phil Jones, has been spending his time researching these trends in a bid to ensure his business stays in touch with current demand, and shares a few of his technological predictions for the coming decade. “I think we are in a golden age of change,” he comments. “There seems to be a theme running through all of it – and it feels like disruptive times.” He believes there needs to be a cultural change between generations, likening generation X (those born from 1960-1980) and generation Y (1980s-90s) to two different software programmes, which run quite differently. “Xs really need to do a patch on their software to update to where the Ys are at now,” he explains. Jones also applies this metaphor to the independent dealer channel. “It’s time for the industry to also update,” he says. Major structural changes occurring in the market have triggered Jones and his colleagues to start thinking about what the OP industry looks like in 2020, here he shares his thoughts on the major trends. Digitisation

The paperless office has been a topic of conversation among office supplies dealers for decades, but it’s only now that it could truly become a reality – thanks to technological advances like the iPad and moving data to the cloud. “We are finally reaching the tipping point where Apple, which had struggled to break the enterprise market through traditional technology, have now, brought what’s referred to as a ‘disruptive innovation’ to the market,” explains Jones of the iPad. These changes have brought about a consumerisation of IT, which sees personal devices and products playing a part in both work and play. BYOD

With the consumerisation of IT, comes a move towards employees bringing their own device to work. This bring-your-own-device (BYOD) approach to workplace technology comes as a result of technologically savvy (often younger) workers keen to utilise their iPad in favour of the run-of-the-mill work computer, allowing them to work on the go. Thus, it runs hand in hand with a shift towards storing documents in the cloud. “All we simply need is access,” explains Jones. “We don’t need the processing power that laptops have; you don’t need to run localised programmes like Microsoft Office, because you could just run Google Docs or Office in the cloud.” BYOD is proving popular. According to a survey by Good Technology, 80% of companies with more than 2,000 employees are supporting the BYOD

For more on Phil Jones’s future predictions, check out his blog at http://www.philjones.biz/ blog/. For more on Brother, visit Brother.co.uk or follow on Twitter @brother_uk

model. This trend towards consumerisation of IT will inevitably lead to buying power moving out of the hands of the large organisation, and into the hands of the consumer. “The one-to-one relationship a reseller has with its big customers would turn back into a one-to-many relationship,” says Jones. This cultural change is set to effect all kinds of business procurement – for instance, it is conceivable that employees could be given individual allowances to buy their own office products. Convenience is the new good deal

This new generation of buyers, used to the internet and working in a fast-paced, click-of-a-button world, puts a high value on convenience, and may be willing to pay more to get it. Jones highlights Amazon’s concept of ‘pick-up points’ as an example. The internet giant is trialling collection lockers in some shopping centres in the UK in the hopes that in future, customers will be able to pick up their orders on the go, instead of having to get them delivered at home. If the world is becoming increasingly consumerised, this move by Amazon is proof positive that future providers will have to fit in with the buyers’ busy schedules. “Is price the issue anymore? No. The issue is about convenience, time, attention and trust,” confirms Jones. The solution to meeting this demand for convenience, believes Jones, is in collaboration – and thinking outside the traditional competitor model to work together with other companies to provide a better service. “If we’re in disruptive times, maybe we need to think more disruptively about our industry too,” he adds. Find efficiencies

In order to survive in what will inevitably be a more competitive market, office products dealerships have to become more efficient. By contrast, the operational cost in the office products sector is significantly higher than the IT sector – and Jones feels this puts the OP channel at risk. “If the industry decided to carry on as it is, because it feels cosy, it leaves the market wide open for new entrants to come in and disrupt your model,” he says. “If suddenly somewhere in the chain, someone breaks their link, the industry isn’t ready for that,” he explains. “I’ve seen this done already on the IT side of the industry and if that were to happen and you examine the current vendor-to-wholesaler-to-dealer-to-end-user chain, and how much cost is in it, and ultimately how much gross margin needs to be made in that chain, it wouldn’t take a management consultant to figure out that there’s an opportunity there to streamline costs and efficiency.” So, what can you do? “If I were an independent, I’d be looking at all areas of my business and seeing where I could reduce operational and fixed costs and try to move them to become variable costs as much as possible in order that I can flex my business as it needs to adapt to future conditions,” says Jones. He advises differentiating customers based on margin expectation and prioritising lucrative business. He also recommends charging more for convenience in a similar model to the airlines, which put last-minute bookings at a higher price than those made in advance. It is also worth thinking outside of the constraints of traditional products and considering skilling up to sell services and technology. “When you look at what the future looks like, it’s not paper-punch folders, staplers or files, which have seen the industry do really well for 20-odd years,” he says. “They are not the baked beans of the next 20.” Even EOS won’t save the day – as the print industry has reached capacity. Jones predicts that content is the new consumable of 2020. “If the world is digitising, then we have much less need for paper and therefore filing cabinets and storage, so how does the office products industry get involved?” He encourages dealers to look towards accessories and support, how they can tap into the growing trend for cloud based computing and how to monetise locality. However, it’s clear there won’t be room in the industry for everyone. The way we work is changing. It’s all about increasing agility; those that do will be benefit hugely from the future. DS

The Brother Future programme will feature in the next few issues of Dealer Support. Next month will feature a round-table industry debate on what the independent dealer channel can do to adapt to change.

people

dealer interview SOS Office Supplies

Pitch Perfect Hull-based SOS Office Supplies recently won Integraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gold Division Dealer Award, having only been a dealer group member for two years, proving that after 35 years of trading the company is still going strong. Company co-director Gary Ketley gives Nina Rosandic an overview of the family business

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

dealer interview SOS Office Supplies

It’s tough out there, and we make no bones about it – it’s hard work

When did the company start up? It’s a family business and it was set up in 1976 by my father. He retired in 2007 (he’s living in Spain now – he’s the lucky one!) and we formed as a limited company. It’s been taken over by myself; my brother Steve, my wife and I are the directors of the company. To begin with, SOS was predominantly selling office furniture, mainly used lines. That led onto new furniture and my dad started buying from VOW, or what would have been Kingfield, or even before that. By buying from them and Spicers, the link to stationery started coming through. We gradually started to supply more and more stationery, and now we do everything really. What’s it like working with family? They say it’s dangerous territory… We have a few family members working here – my sister-in-law works for us aswell and some staff have been here for 20 years or so. We are quite a close-knit family team, but it works well. Being a family business, I’ve worked here since the age of about two! I used to go in every Saturday with my dad to help him out for as long as I can remember. So, was taking over the reins always on the cards for you and your brother? No! I wanted to be a policeman! My intention was, for some bizarre reason, that when I left school I was going to join the police. I don’t really know why. So, I went to the interviews but you have to be 18-and-a-half to work in the police, so they said the best thing to do was to go away and work with the public, and gain some experience dealing with people on a faceto-face basis. At the time, a guy who worked for my dad at SOS moved away, so a space became available at the company. They asked me to help out and stand in for him until they found someone and I’ve pretty much been here ever since. As for my brother, he is a builder by trade. He used to work for a firm building executivestyle houses. A few years ago there was obviously a bit of a downturn in the building industry, so he took a step back and came to work with me at SOS.

the same position: running around doing a lot of deliveries, seemingly quite busy, but finding themselves doing smaller orders as opposed to larger ones. People are a just a bit shy when it comes to buying in bulk. We are certainly busy, but I don’t think we’re breaking records as such. However, yes we’re managing to survive through the tough times, as they say. How long have you been with Integra? It’s only our second year, so we’re quite new to this really. It’s the first dealer group we’ve gone with. We’ve always shied away from buying groups in the past, I don’t really know why, but we never got involved with them. So, how come you decided to take the plunge? We just never thought it was for us, and then we just decided to take a look at it, after talking to one of the sales guys from VOW – he said there were some good discounts to be had from it. We find it more-or-less self-funds itself now, what with the additional discounts and retros we get from people like VOW. Obviously it helps with the marketing side of things and opens your eyes to new possibilities as well. It’s definitely worth our while going forward with Integra. What’s the setup of the company? There’s 10 of us altogether; we have three drivers, although for some of the bigger jobs we all tend to muck in. We also have the showroom staff, a girl doing invoices and accounts, and me, my brother, and my wife do sales. If it’s furniture they’re after, we go down and measure everything up and advise on how they can set up their office. Likewise, we get people who just want to talk to us about stationery, and we go and visit them face-to-face as well. We all work from our location in Hull – we have a significant showroom presence in the town centre and a large warehouse just a two-minute walk across from the shop. How much does the retail side of the business account for? I’d probably say that on the stationery side of things, it’s mostly what we get from business accounts. The retail store tends to lend itself more to furniture sales because people

CV Turnover: £1.2m Margin: 36% Vans: Four Staff: 10

You recently won the Integra Gold division award, that must be a nice way to round off the year. It’s tough out there, and we make no bones about it – it’s hard work and I think everyone’s in

Dealer Group: Integra Website: www.sos-officesupplies.co.uk Back office: Bluesky Horizon

www.dealersupport.co.uk january 2012

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dealer interview SOS Office Supplies

can come and try the products out rather than just seeing them in the catalogues. I’d say we probably do about 20% through the shop door, so it’s not too bad really. Most people associate us with office furniture, and as we do a lot of used furniture, it means that people can come down and take the seats for a test drive, as they say. You can buy chairs from a catalogue but if you’re spending a couple of hundred pounds on a product, you want to try it out first. Is furniture still the bulk of the business? It’s very much down the middle really. It works out both ways – if they come in looking for a desk we try and capture them into an account to start supplying them with stationery, and likewise if they come in to buy stationery from us, they tend to look at the office furniture. Do you source mainly through the wholesalers? We do a bit of both. Most of our business goes through VOW for our stationery. We do have direct accounts with some suppliers, but the terms you get from VOW now are pretty good really, they’re nearly on par with some of what you get from the manufacturers with some products, so it’s more convenient for us to work with them. And how about the marketing side of things? We do our e-shots through the Integra site. We send out flyers with statements, and leaflets go out with our invoices. We’ve just signed up for some radio advertising next year with a local radio company. We’ve done it before – it used to cost quite a bit of money and you don’t necessarily see a direct return from it, but its more about name association really. You have a sponsorship deal with Hull’s Kingston Rovers, is that a worthwhile partnership? We’ve sponsored them for a long while. I think we’re in our 20th season with Kingston Rovers, we’re the longest serving sponsor. We used to go down, and my dad got approached by them to do some advertising. It sort of spiralled from there really. We did more and more advertising, pitchside advertising, then became executive associate sponsors – it’s been pretty good really. The club buys its stationery from us aswell. We’ve got a lot of business from it, people do buy from us because of our affiliation with Hull KR. We’ve re-signed again for next season and we don’t see that changing anytime soon. Do you tend to focus on local business? Predominantly, yes. Hull’s at a bit of an end of a limb really. It’s about 40 minutes before you hit a major city like Leeds. But it’s quite good in that respect though because people in Hull tend to deal with people in Hull. We have everything from one-man-bands, right through to big companies employing hundreds of people. However, I think that most of our business accounts are companies of around

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

40-50 people – much bigger than that and we tend to struggle, as they go for the big boys. Any plans for the New Year? Our main interest is trying to get the website working for the B2C users to get on board, that’s something we’re trying to aim for next year. We have a lot of account customers ordering online through the Horizon system we use, and we try and get as many people down that route as we can, as it saves time if they can start putting their orders on that way. However, the public side of it is a bit more awkward. BlueSky has now introduced one called B2C, which looks pretty good, so we’re looking at taking that one on in the new year, so that anyone in the UK can come on and order. How about in terms of product offering? Our next push will be introducing the Integra brand of Initiative ink cartridges. It’s a big part of our business these days, cartridges, but unfortunately there’s not a lot of margin in it. If you can swap from the branded to the nonbranded, that will make a difference. The Initiative ones seem pretty decent so we’re looking at going down that route now, starting with some training with the representative of MSE, which is the cartridge supplier for the

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dealer interview SOS Office Supplies

Initiative brand. The staff need to be aware of the benefits and the quality of this particular product as there tends to be a lot of cheap ones on the market and they can to be a bit unreliable. A lot of people have had bad experiences with compatibles, whereas these are proven, they have guarantees and that sort of thing. They are not quite the cheapest, but certainly better quality. We’ve put quite a few out there now and we’ve had no returns whatsoever. We’re going to have some blitz days and some free sample drops to our key account customers and hopefully, if they work, they’ll switch straight onto that brand. The product is obviously pretty much standardised – the customer will give you the original branded code and you switch them onto your alternative, but it’s about explaining to customers why this is a better quality range of compatibles, and why they should try it, rather than just to trust their original brand. Do you offer your team much training throughout the year? Not so much training, as such – it’s more product awareness, particularly with the business machines. Being part of Integra, we have the access to the Brother independent retailer scheme, so we get a nice display for the showroom, point of sales and special offers that come about and we get fair pricing as well. Samsung is doing something similar that we’ll be signing up to in the New Year, so then the training will come back into play – they come down and give you a product demonstration, i.e. the difference between a wireless inkjet and a colour laser printer, that sort of thing; the cost and benefits of each machine. And where do you see growth coming from in the New Year? We’re looking to build up the FM side of things. People are still buying, but we’re still really trying to push that aswell next year. We’re trying to get a staple supply, so instead of shopping around, we can just take it down one route – quite a few different companies are offering it but we’d like to choose one supplier and get it all from them really. In the past, the FM market has always been too expensive for us – it’s all well and good to say you’re the one-stop-shop, but when you’re charging £25 for a tin of coffee and they can get the same coffee down the road in the supermarket for £16, people tend to go that way. But I think they’ve woken up to it now and the suppliers and wholesalers are being a bit more aggressive with their pricing, so you can sort of compete. You’re not too far from the supermarket prices now. Before it was more of a token gesture really, whereas now I think they think there’s more margin in it, so there’s a much bigger FM section in the catalogues and customers are more aware. It seems to be the done thing now. But I still think it’s a product that needs to be sold into your customers well. Like with anything, you have to make sure they’re aware you’re doing it. DS

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

Ketley (right) picks up award from Integra’s Aidan McDonough

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dealer interview Office Solutions

Picking Cottam Jonathan Cottam is a veteran of the office supplies business. Having been in the game for over 30 years he has seen the industry peak and trough. His experience stands him in good stead to weather the current economic storm from the confines of his office supplies command centre at the bottom of his garden in Ealing, to which Jonathan Hills took a visit

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

dealer interview Office Solutions

onathan Cottam orchestrates his small office supplies business from the vicinity of his own abode, having moved into a small office at the bottom of his garden to coordinate Office Solutions with maximum comfort and minimum expenditure. Though Cottam has had many salesmen, drivers and office workers in the past, he now runs Office Solutions with the help of his wife alone, who deals with accounts and administration. The small scale Office Solutions operation means that Cottam is primed to endure the current economic predicament with minimal overheads, having only nominal rent and wages to pay. Though Office Solutions did have a driver up until five years ago, Cottam makes all his office supplies deliveries himself with a single van. “The running around, the crashing and the not turning up was just too difficult,” he says. “So I do it all myself now.” This hands-on, hardwork approach has its benefits and Cottam explains that he can ensure that he is always upselling products to his clients at any given opportunity. “I find delivering myself to be really good because every time I deliver I can look in a client’s cupboard and say: ‘Oh, do you need this or that?’ to them.” Delivering the items himself allows Cottam to build up a rapport with his clients and face-toface interaction allows him to judge everything down to the personalities of his customers, as well as the nature and the operation of their business. This in turn alerts Cottam to what they may consider in terms of sales. Familiarity with clients is never contingent when it comes to being a good dealer, stresses Cottam, who believes that treating the customer well, knowing their requirements and tailoring your business to their needs is at the core of a good office supplies company. “Service, service, it has to be service every time,” he says. “It’s because of this that I can say that I have had some of the same customers now for twenty five years.” Cottam’s clients are an eclectic bunch and are located across London – by assimilating customer contacts that span his entire career, Cottam has managed to secure a dedicated base of buyers that he can use to keep out of the red. He even has some clients who predate his company Office Solutions when he worked for another OS firm in the 1980’s. As a result of maintaining these contacts Cottam sells to local GP practices, solicitor firms, hairdressers, pharmaceuticals, surgeons, retail outlets, builders, gardening centres and to the Irish government – at one point he even shipped fifteen filing cabinets to allied forces in Bosnia during the conflict in 1993. Origins Despite being in the OS industry for so long, Cottam’s origins in business started elsewhere. “I worked as a salesman for a food

www.dealersupport.co.uk january 2012

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dealer interview Office Solutions

You have to make savings wherever you can, keep costs down and maintain your customer base

CV Dealer group: Officepoint Gross Margin: 43.63% Turnover: £90,000 Number of vans: One Back office system: PulseOffice Staff: Two Website: www.officesupplieslocal.co.uk

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

manufacturing company from 1978 to 80 and they closed. It was recession time and we were all laid off there and then,” he recalls. “Then I found this job working as a salesman for Knightsbridge office services and I ended up with them for three years.” Having braved the recession in the early 80’s, Cottam is well versed in economic stringency, and his business plan for the next few years is both sensible and simple: “I will just stay treading water if I have to,” he says. “You just have to keep going, reduce expenditure, use opportunity and, as always, if a customer wants a specific product then it’s my job to provide them with it. “You have to make savings wherever you can, keep costs down and maintain your customer base,” he continues, pointing to his desk. “We nurse the old computers to reduce expenditure and generally try and keep things under control.” Though Cottam has already seen several product sectors take a beating this year, he intends to keep his business model and practice stalwart as well as pragmatic. “Furniture and machines we have seen a large drop in,” he says. “People are just looking for keener and keener prices all the time. I am not going to discontinue these lines but

I am aware that the opportunity for selling them won’t be great this year.” Always go on service His small operation, solidified customer base and a first class provision of service put Cottam in good stead for surviving economic difficulty in the future, but his procedure of business has always been this way. Cottam knows the limits of his business and remains optimistic without being overly-ambitious. “I don’t go for huge accounts, I just find that I can’t really compete in the big specialised market,” he explains, “so I try and find niche, custom companies with 20-25 people – I find that I can service them better.” However, within his client remit there isn’t much that he won’t try and procure, once managing to source a custom-made plinth for a Japanese company who wanted its company’s effigy displayed in its lobby. “I try and encompass everything, from the paperclip up to a desk and give the customer everything they need,” explains Cottam. Having experience in a traditional office supplies background, Cottam’s sales strategy has remained pretty consistent since he

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started in office supplies thirty years ago. “You go down to a potential client, offer them a catalogue and say ‘I know you have a supplier but we may be able to offer a cheaper deal on a few items or products’,” he says. “Then you get your foot in the door from delivering that one item and gradually increase it over time. “When I started you would bump into reps everywhere, you were employed to knock on doors. Sometimes you would go to see a customer and there would be four or five salesman waiting to see the buyer, all trying to get him,” Cottam reminisces. When asked how a dealer managed to survive in such a tenacious environment back in the early 80’s recessionridden London, Cottam’s answer yet again rests on provision for the client. “I would always go on service,” he replies. “Even when I was working for some other stationery companies it was our service that was better than the bigger guys. Theirs would often just turn up in a box whereas we would put it all away, install it or try to sell them something that was slightly different in the first place.” A close and familiar interaction with the client and services such as putting up flat pack furniture, walking through the installation of a machine, sourcing rare products and providing product guidance has proved to be the bread and butter of Cottam’s business. “I want them to see me so often that they consider me an employee, and that has actually happened in the past,” he says, remembering an occasion when he spent so much time at a client’s office that several of their workers had just assumed that he was a new full-time employee. Ensuring that he gets to know his client’s workforce as well as the client themselves has put Cottam in good stead for the expansion of his business in the past. “I’ve had people that worked for companies I have supplied to who

have left, gone to another company and taken my catalogue with them,” he recalls. “Then three or four years down the line I have another client.” Looking to the future Despite his apparent consistent business decorum, Cottam knows that change is a necessary component in the office supplies industry; with the advent of the New Year Cottam intends to modernise areas of his business while maintaining the high level of service that he has relied upon for the last three decades. The printing services arm of Office Solutions that accounts for 15% of business has taken a hit along with the rest of the industry this year, just another variable that keeps dealers like Cottam on their toes and seeking out new business. He hopes to modernise his website and move further into FM sales to save his books as other sectors such as consumables, machinery and furniture start to feel the squeeze. He also says that he fully intends to utilise the growth of ‘whitebox’ ownbrand products throughout 2012 as the call for such items from his clients intensifies. “It all comes down to what my customer wants,” he adds. “And people are looking at the white boxes, but then I also have clients who know they want a Black n’ Red book, they are not going to have an unbranded book, and so I will be there to supply it to them.” Keeping to the clients’ demands seems to be at the epicentre of Cottam’s business, and it appears this is not set to change any time soon. His reliable client base will definitely help to ensure that Office Solutions keeps its head above the water. One suspects that it is the dedication to service that has kept his office supplies career healthy throughout thirty years and two recessions, and puts him in pole position to ride out this one. DS

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Scanning for potential As we head closer and closer to a paperless office environment, Jonathan Hills takes a look at how dealers can grow their business by offering scanning and document management software

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

grow your business

he recession has provided many businesses with the opportunity to sell document management solutions to companies looking to reduce the costs associated with printing and printing consumables. It may still be a few more years, even decades, before the long-talked about ‘paperless office’ becomes ordinary practice, but dealers still need to be aware of the transition taking place within businesses and their methods of storing and archiving data. Document management (DM) provides a great opportunity to expand into a new and reliable office supplies sector, and dealers should ensure that they and their clients stay ‘in the know’ when it comes to innovations within DM. “Document management, and in particular, electronic document management technologies are key for cutting costs, streamlining processes and eliminating filing cabinets full of paperwork,” says MD of Version One, Julian Buck. “Dealers need to advise businesses that the manual filing of paperwork is no longer a viable solution to managing business documents.” Dealers should present document management as the future for business data storage to clients and emphasise the levels of convenience, security and capital it entails. Klaus Schulz, manager product marketing, PFU Imaging Solutions, agrees that dealers should be acquainting themselves with document management as soon as possible and that businesses that do not convert soon could find themselves being left behind. “They will miss a lot of potential benefits,” he says. “The earlier and the more seamlessly paper-based information is integrated into the digital process chain, the greater the potential for creating business value.” Dealers need to assimilate the sale of DM into their common vernacular with their clients so that whenever they talk about scanners, archiving or digital storage, DM is already part of that product family. “The dealer channel should definitely be exploiting the opportunities that document management solutions present to their clients,” says MD of Deslaes, Jonathan Whitworth. “Their customers want the productivity and cost benefits that DM solutions have to offer. For dealers, the most important thing is to include the presentation of DM solutions as a natural part of the sales process and not as an afterthought. Software should be offered in the same way as finishing devices, or any other options,” he says.

Learn to teach to sell

In order to present DM to clients, dealers need to familiarise themselves with the industry, its potential and limitations, its cost and which of their customers could benefit the most from its sale and implementation. One of the first steps when moving into DM is to ensure that you have the backing of a trusted and respected software

The earlier and the more seamlessly paper-based information is integrated into the digital process chain, the greater the potential for creating business value

company. Dean Woolliscroft, marketing manager, ImagingXtra, says: “Working with a good document management company is essential. Diagnosis, negotiation and implementation is time consuming but the potential for up-selling and enhancing customer loyalty more than make it worthwhile.” A good DM company can teach you how to present their products to customers, how DM works and how it can benefit your clients, as well as the method for sale, implementation and upkeep of the software thereafter. “If dealers deal with a responsible and good DM company then they should get their hand held all the way through their initial stages,” says Woolliscroft. Ask around and utilise your contacts to ensure that you are getting all the support you need, talk to other dealers that you know already have some experience in the area, and, if you don’t know any, ask document management providers to put you in touch with some of their reseller customers. From the point of view of manufacturers and distributors, dealers can generally rely upon their support due to the reciprocal advantages of both parties involved. “We want to sell more boxes so any way that we can help a company do that is good,” says Woolliscroft. Soft landing

DM offers a great financial incentive for dealers in the long run as DM systems often leave scope for upgrading or expansion into to other departments within the same company. The financial incentive for the buyer is also very appealing and financially stable. Offering a client a DM solution for a section of their business is a good way to give your product a ‘soft-landing’, as they are given the chance to see how effective it is before deciding whether to roll it out to the rest of their business. One of the best aspects of DM sales is the large margins that it can offer dealers and the additional equipment that can be sold as part of the DM package. Margins are excellent because there are few costs involved with software implementations. When sold with a new device, DM solutions provide profitable value-added incremental revenue,” says Whitworth. Not only are the initial benefits extremely inviting, but dealers can sell scanners and archiving products alongside DM software to their clients who wish to ‘go digital’ with their

www.dealersupport.co.uk january 2012

management

grow your business

Diagnosis, negotiation and implementation is time consuming but the potential for up-selling and enhancing customer loyalty more than make it worthwhile documents. “Dependent on referrals or direct sales, margins can be up to 30%,” says woolliscroft. “They can, and in general do, start small in one department and then grow organically from there, so from the dealer’s point of view you are talking about an initial £5,000 and then this is rolled on depending on the size of the company and the number of modules they need,” he adds. “For the buyer, storing documents electronically can deliver a return on investment in just six months while streamlining administration, freeing-up document storage space, aiding compliance and supporting organisations’ green agendas,” agrees buck. “Moving towards electronic document management solutions is a no-brainer.” DoubLe-uP

The trick to selling document management and scanners to clients is to bounce the two off each other – if you have a client that is looking to purchase a document management system, then ask if they have sufficient scanners or alternatively present them with a higher quality, faster and more efficient machine. Phil Jones, sales and marketing director at brother uK, said: “The world is digitising rapidly as tablet and cloud computing become part of everyday language and operation within business. scanners are becoming a de facto tool for the office as the desire to carry paper based documents electronically increases. not all companies will require the same level or speed of archiving and dealers should be looking to sell and educate accordingly.” similarly, if you are selling scanners to a client, this offers the perfect opportunity to introduce them to DM, as they already have the means to implement a document management system, they just require the software and perhaps some digital storage space. Jones says: “Dealers should consider whether a standalone scanner is the right solution (high volume/dedicated facility) or highlight the advantage of multifunction models to their customers by demonstrating the business benefits to a more occasional user. Dealers should also try and identify a customer’s filing needs at the outset – their current DM software and audit where they currently store different types of documents. This will enable resellers to promote features available on many printers, such as isis scanner drivers, which allows the storage of hard copy documents in electronic archives or the ability to scan directly to an FTP site or network location.” schulz says: “Dealers should be asking the right questions: “what happens with the data once files are digitized? in which departments or branches of your business is the data being used? what are your specific requirements?” This can lead to a discussion about the benefits of document and enterprise content management and links them to the customer’s actual process routines.” DS

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

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MANAGEMENT

ADVICE

f Britain dscape o n la ty fe a and s er as the The health f Septemb o d n e e and at th was axed changed e n li fo in phone ved for all HSE’s tele was remo g in rt o p re owever, injuries. H telephone f o s u o ly to ri ost se is very like E S H but the m e th come as m next more is to r costs fro e v o c re ility to s why get the ab ett explain n n on e B w dre pay attenti d n a p April. An u sit s need to businesse

he Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has long stressed its commitment to advising businesses, as part of its many roles. As recently as June 2009, in its strategy document, “Be Part of the Solution”, the HSE stated that the “HSE provides strategic direction and leads the health and safety system as a whole. In addition to inspection, investigation and enforcement, key activities include... providing information and advice...” However, the HSE has also consistently received criticism from businesses for neglecting the advice and preventative side of their obligations in favour of more reactive action, for example; prosecutions and other

JANUARY 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

ADVICE

enforcement action. Seemingly scared of committing to any concrete advice, the HSE has been seen by different industries as more of a policeman, rather than a teacher or guide. In recent years, the perception of the HSE has improved through more training being given to inspectors, the HSE Infoline giving quick and common sense advice, and the HSE showing more of a willingness to use specialised advice to assist its promotion and enforcement of health and safety. However, this progress is very much under threat due to the much documented government public spending cuts which have resulted in a variety of recent changes. In particular, the news that the HSE ended its Infoline on 30 September of this year has been met with some considerable concern. The replacement to this service is, regrettably, not a replacement at all, as health and safety duty holders will simply be referred to the HSE’s existing website instead. While the website’s 26 million visits per year represents 100 times the amount of the callers to the HSE Infoline, many of these callers were people who had gone to the website and had needed to call someone to clarify what the advice they had read on the internet. The HSE now recommends that if people do not understand the advice on the website, they should seek advice from a reputable health and safety consultant. These consultants are now listed on an Occupational Safety and Health Consultant’s Register, following the Lord Young Review of health and safety law. However, the lack of a transitional period between the end of the Infoline, and the new, recommended advice route is worrying. Furthermore, the fact that people will have not be able to contact the HSE verbally is perhaps symptomatic of an enforcement body that simply isn’t prioritizing the advice and guidance side of its’ duty. The end of the Infoline coincides with the changes to the reporting of injuries, dangerous diseases and occurrences regulations (RIDDOR) reporting system, whereby work-related injuries and incidents reportable under this system are now only able to be notified to the HSE via the HSE website (rather than there continuing to be an option to report over the phone). Over half of RIDDOR reports are already completed online and fatal or major incidents are still permitted to be reported by phone as the circumstances of these incidents will often be incredibly stressful and needing of a personal interaction with the HSE. However, one of the main advantages of being able to ‘phone-in’ RIDDOR reports for more minor incidents was that it afforded the reporter the chance to gain reassurance as to whether they should report an incident at all. For major incidents (which can still be ‘phoned-in’), there is likely to be little doubt that they need to be reported, but the lack of a phone service for

minor incidents is likely to lead to a huge number of reports being made online for incidents that may not need to be reported at all. This is likely to have the greatest impact on small to medium sized businesses who may not be particularly liable to have major incidents, but may have many minor incidents. In the midst of these two changes, the HSE’s costs recovery proposals have been produced in a government document on which consultation recently closed. The proposals would allow the HSE, in the near future, most probably from April 2012, to start to recover costs for all enforcement action (not just the costs of prosecutions) that the HSE takes in respect of “material breaches” by health and safety duty holders. This would open the door for the HSE to start to charge duty holders for the cost of their enforcement action, ranging from producing a letter of advice to the issuing of a prohibition order (and any costs of a related investigation before such an order is issued). The proposals, as they currently stand do not extend to local authorities being able to recover their costs for health and safety enforcement action falling short of prosecutions.

The danger is that the only bespoke advice that businesses will receive in the future from the HSE will be in conjunction with enforcement action…and a bill Therefore, the danger is that the only specific and bespoke advice that organisations and businesses will ever receive in the future from the HSE will be in conjunction with enforcement action… and a bill. The distance between the HSE and duty holders is only likely to increase due to the proposals, and perhaps the greatest worry is that the proposed extension of recovery of costs may create a certain measure of distrust and suspicion of the HSE by organisations. That is something that nobody wants and does not help any organisation. Indeed, it also hinders health and safety enforcement. A little more conversation, a little less action and please don’t bill us for the chat or the letter… be very cautious, you have been warned. DS

www.dealersupport.co.uk JANUARY 2012

management

Advice

The peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s manager The changing shape of business has meant the evolution of the role of company manager. Jo Owen breaks down the traditional management myths and explains the secrets to getting the best out of your team and influencing those that matter to your business

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

advice

uccessful managers have three completely different sorts of skills. Very few managers are good in all three areas: technical skills, people skills and political skills. Technical skills are self-evident. We all start our careers by learning a craft skill: teaching; accounting; copy writing; trading. And many people enjoy a whole career being a craft specialist, but that is not what managing is about. Managing is not about doing it all yourself. The art of management is about making things happen through other people, and this is where it goes wrong for the craft specialist who gets promoted into management. Front line managers suffer the leader in the locker room problem – they are like the great footballer who is made manager. With this extra responsibility, the player manager now tries even harder to make all the tackles and passes and shouts at his team mates even more. And then he is fired. Because his job is not to make every tackle and score every goal – his job is to select the right team, train and coach them and decide the tactics. He does not need to play at all. Managing and doing are completely different – great players rarely make great coaches. To become effective managers we need to learn a whole raft of people skills, without sinking into the nether world of abseiling, raft building and psychological schlock that crawls around planet business. We have to be managers, not psychiatrists. Some managers think they know all about motivation. As one told me: “Motivation? Oh yeah, I did that at business school. Maslow. No problem”. He did not think he had a problem, but his team members thought otherwise. We need a quick way of cutting through all the psycho babble of psychometric tests, profiling and theory. At risk of massive over simplification, research conducted for How to Manage found that there was one question which would predict whether a manager was seen to be motivational, decisive, effective and generally a great all round human being. This was the question: “My boss cares for me and my career” (Agree/disagree on a five point scale). The bosses who did not care were rated poorly on most other criteria – who wants to work for a boss that does not care about us? A boss who cared had a chance of being rated well on everything else. So if there is a magic secret to dealing with people it is very simple: show that you care. Caring does not mean courting popularity. Popularity leads to weakness: you always land up accepting excuses, making allowances and granting favours. You are as popular as your last gift. Caring properly means taking time to understand the needs, abilities and ambitions of each team member. Be prepared to have difficult but constructive conversations early. It is better to be respected than to be liked, because respect lasts. So far, so obvious. Essentially, the effective manager is someone with high IQ (intelligence) and high EQ (emotional intelligence). Now look around your own organisation. There are probably quite a few smart and nice people with high IQ and EQ who languish harmlessly in the backwaters. Meanwhile, people who are not so smart and not so nice levitate mysteriously to the top. Clearly, something is missing – it is not enough to have high IQ and high EQ. The “something missing” is called PQ: political quotient.

PQ is the art of making things happen through people you do not control. This is the game changer that has made life far more challenging for managers today than managers of just 20 years ago. Twenty years ago, managers made things happen through people they pretty much controlled. That is not too hard. But in the flat and outsourced organisations of today, no manager has control over the people he or she needs: customers, suppliers, and colleagues in other departments. To make matters more interesting, your real competition is not in the market place. Your real competition is sitting at a hot desk near you. Your colleagues are also your deadliest rivals – at least your market place competitor will not steal your share of this year’s bonus pot, budget or management support and time. PQ is the opposite of Machiavellian back-stabbing to advance your own career. It is about making things happen for the benefit of the organisation. That means that managers have to learn the subtle arts of influence, not control. We have to learn how to build alliances and strike deals. We have to learn when to stand and fight, and when to concede gracefully. We have to make our own luck and find the right assignments. We have to know how to turn crises into opportunities and how to use uncertainty and ambiguity to our advantage. PQ is the management as we know it, not as it should be. But because politics is seen as a slightly grubby subject, academics hold their noses and pass onto nobler subjects. This is a mistake as managers can not succeed without learning PQ. The good news about all these skills is that they can be learned. You do not have to be a born genius to lead – management smarts are very different from Einstein smarts. Dealing with people can be learned, and the art of positive politics must be learned. In truth, no manager gets ticks in all the boxes. We all have weaknesses that our HR colleagues diplomatically call “development opportunities”. But no manager succeeds by developing their weaknesses, just as no sportsman succeeds by focusing on their weaknesses. You would not ask a weightlifter to work on their synchronised swimming skills for the Olympics, nor should you ask a manager to work on their weaknesses. Ultimately, management is a team sport – work around weaknesses by hiring a great team around you. Finally, there is one secret all successful managers have: they enjoy what they do. We only excel at what we enjoy. So whatever you do, enjoy it. DS

In the flat and outsourced organisations of today, no manager has control over the people he or she needs

www.dealersupport.co.uk january 2012

FINAL wORD

Fashioning a brand Chris Stott, MD and owner, Pukka Pads

It’s down to survival of the fittest...sor the most innovative

ith the Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee on the world stage in 2012, Britain is set to make its mark. But this isn’t just happening with such big headline-grabbing events. The UK is starting to shine again on the manufacturing front too. For a long time small manufacturers have been considering shifting production back from the Far East to the UK to save money and provide a better service to customers after concerns rose about the quality and the rising costs of freight. UK-based companies were initially attracted by lower labour costs in places such as Eastern Europe and Asia, but now businesses are shifting their sights back to the UK. If you look at how UK manufacturers compete in UK global markets, it’s about quality, first-class customer service and efficient delivery times. I recently purchased two printing factories, one in the south and one in the north, to introduce Pukka Pads Business Forms, printers of all business stationery requirements, in support of this return. Manufacturers are now consistently prioritising customer fulfillment above all else. This is a remarkable shift from the cost cutting initiatives as seen in the past. Lst year was surprisingly better than many predicted for the stationery and office products industry, with major players managing to maintain margins. No one can argue that it’s been a difficult few months, well even a few years, and although shoots of recovery are starting to show there’s no certainty those will keep growing. In these challenging times, a dealer prioritising their business strategy around customer fulfilment is initially a good idea. Consumers retreat into economic hibernation, buying little and mainly on price. But these consumers gradually tire of the doom and gloom, unwilling or unable to spend on large luxuries and instead they treat themselves. This scenario offers the stationery sector an opportunity to boost sales by encouraging consumers to trade up. The importance of innovation from a customer perspective is also shared by the professionals. We have the challenge to make sure that we are meeting the requests of our customers; who expect good quality, great value and something out of the ordinary. The quality of your product is the most important factor; it’s the starting platform to your business. Once you have attained a good quality product, only then can the aesthetics be achieved. The aesthetics of today’s stationery market is led by colour, fashion and design and Pukka’s bold, bright-coloured designs are what makes us stand out. Long may this continue! I want this industry to survive, be vibrant and exciting. The key to success is to focus on branding while maintaining the correct quality and price equation. In today’s competitive environment it’s down to survival of the fittest – or the most innovative. It’s all about the brand these days. You have got to get tomorrow’s market, and that’s what we at Pukka Pads constantly seek. DS

january 2012 www.dealersupport.co.uk

january 2012

NEWS INSPIRING BUSINESS SOLUTIONS FOR DEALERS

Spicers sold D

S Smith has sold Spicers to Unipapel, with the simultaneous purchase of the UK and Ireland division by Becap (Better Capital) for £32m. In an interview with Dealer Support in September, Alan Ball, CEO of the Spicers UK and Ireland business shed some light on the sale, which has been in discussions since the news on 6 July that DS Smith had received a binding offer for Spicers from the Spanish wholesaler. Unipapel’s offer values Spicers at an enterprise value of £200m. The purchase of the Spicers UK and Ireland business by Better Capital was completed on 30 December following an eight day handover period and approval from the European Commission. Ball said: “We are delighted that the sale has completed and we can now move forward at pace with clarity and vigour. This will give Spicers UK and Ireland a bright future; we are committed to adding value to the office products New horizons: Alan Ball, Spicers CEO industry and to continuing to deliver initiatives that will allow the business to fulfil its long term potential”. Ball confirmed that he would be “focusing on delivering the usual excellent service to our customers” throughout the sale process and that he is joined by a strong board with Sarah Jones CFO and that non-executive appointments have been made to complement the team including Mark Aldridge, Peter Williamson, Rob Asplin from Better Capital and Ray Peck. Ball also highlighted the wholesaler’s Furnology tour – following its success in recent years, Spicers is once again visiting regional venues to showcase its range, support and service on the latest line of furniture to dealers and their sales teams. Each of the events will incorporate a one-hour overview on the future business plans and initiatives at Spicers by the senior management team, led by Ball. “In order to fully engage with our dealer partners, we will be holding a series of regional presentations coinciding with the Furnology exhibitions. Dealers will have the opportunity to see what Spicers has to offer in 2012 and beyond,” he said. Bruce Davie, Spicers furniture sales director commented: “As we move into phase two of our furniture change programme we are ready to roll out a new furniture delivery solution which will significantly improve the end user delivery experience. This remains the office furniture show not to be missed!”

News printed on Xerox Colorprint 90 gsm

DEALER SUPPORT NEWS

United Gives Charity £2,000 Xmas Gift

usiness supplies provider United saved it’s usual £2,000 Christmas cards and gifts spend in favour of donating the money to CLIC Sargent Children’s Cancer Charity. Darren Lloyd, sales and marketing director commented: “December is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and we are thrilled to be able to support the CLIC Sargent charity and the worthy work that they do, especially at Christmas time. All of our customers fully supported and encouraged our decision to donate to charity in lieu of their traditional Christmas gifts.”

York Dealer Goes For An Upgrade

ork dealer Wallis Business Services has relocated to new premises to allow for a state of the art showroom,to inspire new business. The company has acquired Unit 1, Concept Court, Kettlestring Lane, York, for an undisclosed sum. As well as housing the business’ sales and administration office, the showroom will display a comprehensive range of office furniture and fittings, as well as a complete display of business machinery in order for the company to maximise engagement on its newly launched managed print services. Managing director Peter Wallis said: “This acquisition and expansion to Concept Court is good for the business, staff and customers for several reasons. As well as enabling us to relocate our sales, administration and showroom into a more prestigious building, it creates additional warehouse space in our existing premises so we can buy and store more stock in bulk, such as paper, which can now be acquired by container rather than pallets, so we can compete effectively with national industry players. Concept Court is an attractive, well-built development with good access to the ring road and I’m sure it will prove to be a good investment for the business.”

Wallis Business Services, which was founded in Gillygate, York in 1965, has been based in an 8,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Kettlestring Lane since 1990 and also has branches in Malton and Darlington. It’s 49-strong staff team supports an annual turnover of £5.2m.

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in brief ... KeepItSafe

Out With The Old, In With The New

echnology distributor Steljes has launched its Smart upgrade programme to help resellers profit, as education establishments start to replace their old interactive whiteboards and projectors. The Smart Upgrade Programme is available for all educational establishments until 31 March. Under the terms of the programme, educational establishments will be able to replace selected existing Smart Board interactive whiteboards or competitive products and receive up to £250 off when

they purchase Smart’s latest interactive whiteboards. Sales and marketing director. Martine Dodwell-Bennett commented: “The upgrade programme represents a huge opportunity for our resellers, with many projectors and interactive whiteboards coming to the end of their life. We estimate that in the interactive whiteboard market alone, there are approximately 69,000 Smart Board interactive whiteboard 500 series that are coming to the end of their life and approximately 30,000 competitor boards.”

New Director For TDMaverick

ulian Klein has joined specialist audio visual distributor, TDMaverick, as European development director. As a key member of Maverick’s central management team, Klein will be responsible for developing countries and vendor partnerships as Maverick continues to expand throughout Europe. Klein will report to Jon Sidwick, director of Maverick Europe. “It took a while for us to find the right person for the job. Julian has a proven track record at a senior level in IT and AV distribution, giving him a strong background, which will be invaluable to

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us as we grow and increase our levels of specialist technical distribution services,” said Sidwick. Prior to joining Maverick, Klein held leadership roles with Ingram Micro and Steljes and before this spent over ten years with Computer 2000. He commented: “I am excited to be joining a winning team. The combination of the specialist expertise of Maverick supported by the power of Tech Data is unique in the industry and offers major benefits to both our customers and vendor partners.”

Online backup and disaster recovery services provider KeepItSafe is offering dealers the chance to maximise on demand for secure data solutions with the launch of its partner programme. The company plans to sign up 50 UK resellers for its fully managed and monitored online backup and recovery service by June 2012. Eoin Blacklock, MD of KeepItSafe, commented: “We look forward to helping our partners capitalise on this growth, and encourage them to take advantage of our sales and marketing services and technical expertise.”

BOSS

The BOSS Federation has announced the sad loss of John Whale. A former director of Summers of Rochester and a leading member of the BOSS Federation Kent Branch. Whale was, for many years, treasurer of the BOSS Federation Benevolent Fund. The funeral was held on Friday 16 December at the Garden of England Crematorium in Bobbing, near Sittingbourne, Kent.

Superstat

The dealer group has received positive feedback on the new look and feel of its 2012 Concise catalogue. Marketing director Karly Haley commented: “The catalogue forms the backbone of any dealer’s route to market ... Moving from a plus-sized design to a smaller, handier format with a more punchy feel inside has brought the catalogue in line with many other retailers out there and we’re delighted that our members are on board with the new look.”

DEALER SUPPORT NEWS

WAE+ Set To Challenge Office Giants

Birmingham-based office supplies retailer has launched a new online service to take on the leaders in the industry. WAE+ launched with over 40,000 discounted items available online in a bid to secure a share of the office supplies market. WAE+ is also looking after the environment by not using printed catalogues, utilising electric vehicles and recycling 90% of the materials it uses. Iain Charnock-Shields, new business executive at WAE+, said: “For too long this market has been dominated by the same big players and we feel really strongly that it’s time to offer

better customer service, a better buying experience and better prices.We want to remove the stress that can be associated with purchasing office supplies and our easy-to-use online interface allows for a quick, hassle free interaction.” Development manager Leena Marsh commented: “We’ve spent a long time developing our online site to ensure that it is as intuitive as possible, but that doesn’t mean that we are neglecting the personal approach.We wanted to replace out-dated methods, such as sending out huge catalogues in an almost anonymous manner, with a new website and dedicated account handler, in a bid to provide a much better experience for our customers.”

Nemo To champion Start-ups

EMO is starting its 25th anniversary year with Evolve, a new type of membership for small dealers. The Evolve membership is designed to support and nurture start-ups and smaller dealers by providing the tools to enable them to compete and grow into full share-holder members. Membership will be open to dealers who may be relatively new to the industry, or have several years’ experience and simply want the reassurance of a network of like-minded people around them. Commercial director Time Beaumont said: “Growing our dealer base with new memberships is essential to achieving our goals. Nemo, the oldest dealer group in the UK, has over a sustained period, delivered great value and expertise to our dealers.”

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in brief ... Bluesky

Frasers Supporting Community Sport

eading-based dealer Frasers Office Supplies is proud to support the local community with the renewal of its sponsorship of the Reading and District Netball League for the third successive year. The valuable sponsorship that Frasers provides allows the league to continue to run netball teams across four divisions, allowing over 300 netballers between the ages of 14 and 50 to enjoy the game.

The commitment was recently made official with the presentation of a cheque to league vice chairman Jennie Underwood and president Carol Hutchings. Frasers’ sales and marketing director Nick Clark said: “We believe it is important for local businesses to give something back to the community and we are really pleased to be able to continue our support of the local netball league.”

Office products back office systems supplier Bluesky has announced that its new customer relationship management (CRM) module for Horizon and new email marketing module are in the later stages of development, and set to launch early this year. Commercial director Derek Blood said: “Dealers asked BlueSky to develop a CRM system that uses live data and integrates with their back office system plus takes into account the needs of the office products dealer and that is what we are going to deliver.”

Antalis

Antalis McNaughton has kicked off its free dealer roadshow, taking place at leading sporting venues across the country throughout January and February. The events are showcasing ideas on how office supply dealers can make or save money, with a seminar programe, and the opportunity to find out about the latest product innovations, meet product experts and benefit from show-only offers.

EVOLUTION

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Evolution Software has announced that it has appointed a “head of customer happiness”. Michael Horn is to take up the position after working as a business development manager at Arena Office Equipment in Kilwinning, Scotland. Andy Whyte, sales and marketing director at Evolution says: “We’re really chuffed to welcome Michael to our team, he knows the industry really well and has a can-do attitude. Michael’s role will be to work with our existing customers to ensure they are getting the very best out of our software.”

DEALER SUPPORT NEWS

Computer 2000 assisting software sales

echnology distributor Computer 2000 has launched a new service that makes it easier for resellers to attach software sales to every PC, laptop or tablet sale. Until now, online downloads and activations have only been available directly from vendors and at full RRPs. The TDActivate-here service gives resellers and retailers the ability to deliver product activation keys to customers on software products – usually within 60 minutes. Customers can also download software from the TDActivatehere website and many software products are now provided

pre-installed on new PCs, laptops and tablets ready for user activation. By making use of the service, resellers can offer the latest software solutions and increase the potential for attachsales, without holding stock or having to wait for boxed product to be shipped. Retailers can also offer customised activation at the point of sale and the system will enable all resellers to offer online activation and set their own end-user pricing. Initially, all Microsoft products and the Symantec Norton family of security solutions are available through the service, with the addition of further software systems in the New Year.

Stationery Meets Fashion

rganisers of The Stationery Show have chosen “fashion meets function” as the marketing theme for the 2012 event, to appear in all advertising and online promotional material. The Stationery Show, set to take place 24-25 April at the Business Design Centre, London, is set to “reflect stationery’s growing popularity and new lifestyle status”. The show is the only UK exhibition dedicated to stationery products, writing instruments and accessories and has recently launched National Stationery Day to promote stationery to consumers and the consumer press, to take place on Tuesday 24 April. Organiser Chris Leonard-Morgan said: “The British love affair with stationery products and writing instruments is as strong as ever, and is being driven by a resurgence in handwritten communication and the growth of the home office in particular. “In a tough market, buyers need more than ever to be able to offer their customers new products and reasons to spend their money in their stores rather than with their competitors. Exhibitor bookings are ahead of this time last year, and a third of these are new to the event,” he added.

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CI has been awarded costs as a result of Epson’s latest appeal in the ongoing patent infringement case being overturned in a high court hearing. In April 2011 Seiko Epson corporation commenced High Court proceedings against Dynamic Cassette International (DCI) for alleged patent infringement. DCI vigorously denies these alleged infringements, and has in turn counterclaimed against Seiko Epson for

its behaviour in its attempts to prevent what the company insists is “fair competition”. A high court hearing took place on 24 November, where Epson applied to the court for its replies to be kept confidential. Mr Justice Floyd found in favour of DCI, with costs. Epson’s refusal to accept the publication of the result of this hearing has been overturned in another high court hearing, with further costs awarded to DCI.

Avery Sells Division To 3M

very Dennison has sold its office supplies and consumer products operations to 3M for $550m, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Avery is a global leader in the supplies of printable media solutions and other consumer products with expected sales in 2011 of approximately $765m. It intends to use the proceeds from the transaction primarily to reduce debt, make additional pension contributions and repurchase shares. Chairman, president and CEO Dean Scarborough said: “The sale of our office and consumer products business to 3M presents the best opportunity to maximize

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OCP’s value for Avery Dennison’s shareholders, and complements 3M’s global portfolio. Our industry-leading pressure-sensitive materials and retail branding and information solutions businesses, combined with our strong balance sheet, make us well positioned for profitable growth and increased return of cash to shareholders.” Bill Smith, VP and general manager of the 3M office supplies division, said: “This acquisition complements our global business… and will allow us to better serve our customers with accelerated product innovation.” The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2012.

DCI And Epson Court Case Update

We’ve spent a long time developing our online site to make sure that it is as intuitive as possible, but that doesn’t mean that we are neglecting the personal approach. We wanted to replace out-dated methods, such as sending out huge catalogues in an almost anonymous manner Leena Marsh, development manager, WAE+

At NEW RECRUIT HP

P Personal Systems Group (psg) has announced that Pascal Bourguet has been appointed to the role of channel sales director for UK and Ireland at with immediate effect. Bourguet has been leading the consumer sales team within PSG for the last two and a half years, during which time the team saw increased market share along with significant strengthening of key retail relationships, and other key commercial successes. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of Pascal,” says Paul Hunter, VP, HP PSG UK and Ireland. “We underwent a comprehensive recruitment process for this position and Pascal’s capabilities and credentials really stood out. He has done an outstanding job of leading the retail team and I’m looking forward to

working with him as part of the leadership team to help drive the UK PSG business to even greater success in 2012. “Replacing Pascal on the retail team is Alex Ebeid who has been promoted to the role of consumer sales manager after demonstrating considerable skill and effort in growing key retail accounts and leading the consumer online team. “The appointment of Pascal comes after the resignation of Trevor Evans who left HP PSG in late 2011 after six very successful years. During that time Trevor demonstrated superb sales and leadership skills and the HP PSG UK and Ireland team would like to express their thanks and appreciation for all his hard work and dedication.” said Hunter.

IT spending expected to rise in 2012

orldwide spending on IT solutions is set to increase to a total of $3.8tn in 2012, an increase of 3.7% from 2011 levels, according to technology researcher Gartner. Gartner has revised its outlook for 2012 global IT spending from its previous forecast of 4.6% growth. All four major technology sectors, including computing hardware, enterprise software, IT services and telecommunications equipment and services are expected to experience slower spending growth in 2012 than previously predicted. Vice president of research at Gartner, Richard Gordon, commented on the prediction: “Faltering global economic growth, the eurozone crisis and the impact of Thailand’s floods on hard-disk production have all taken their toll on the outlook for IT spending.” The floods, that left one-third of Thailand under water, are having serious implications for many businesses worldwide but particularly for computer and storage purchases. Although large PC OEMs will see fewer problems than others in the industry, no company will be wholly immune to the effects on the HDD supply chain. Telecom equipment spending is projected to show the strongest growth, with revenue increasing 6.9% in 2012, followed by the enterprise software market, which is predicted to grow at a rate of 6.4%.

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