INDUSTRY
BIG ASK
How can being aware of ‘product lifecycle’ be of benefit to a dealer? We ask the industry their thoughts on when dealers should diversify and pick up new categories or product Robbie Burgess, special projects, Integra In today’s world no customer is going to stumble across a new product; they go to a search box on a website, or pick up a catalogue - not to browse, but to find, and so they miss all the wonderful, innovative new products. The best antidote to this is to pick a handful of innovative products from a newly launched catalogue and introduce them to your customers. This is where the dealer often misses out, selling the ‘I didn’t know that existed’ product. We’re too conditioned as an industry now to automate the fulfilment of business-critical lines such as paper, ink etc. and, if we feel we’ve got that nailed, so that it’s seamless, we tend to forget the rest. Dealers should look to pick up any new product at the start of the growth phase, when the product concept is proven and is becoming more popular, sales are increasing and margins are
[20] JUNE 2021
www.dealersupport.co.uk
