INDUSTRY
PODCAST WISDOM
Listen up Over the course of this year, listeners to Dealer Support’s podcast have received the benefit of the wisdom of some experienced players in the industry – here are some of the highlights.
S
ome of the great and good of the
“It breeds complacency; the wholesaler doesn’t
office supplies world have been
have to work to get your business - they have already
interviewed for Dealer Support’s
got it so they can do what they want with the price, they
podcast, Tuned In, this year by Steve
can limit the range, they can change it.”
Harrop; they have covered a wide
The market, and its relationship with wholesalers,
range of topics in that time, from the pandemic, to the
is changing, as Mark Wilkinson, Acco’s regional vice
changing sector, to what the future might hold.
president, UK & Ireland, outlined in March. Back in
For instance, in February’s podcast Raj Advani, ex-
2009-10, after the financial crisis, Acco in Europe
managing director of Exertis Supplies, advised dealers
decided to simplify its market strategy and stepped
to spread their risk, and not commit too much spend to
away from the dealer community. However, the
one wholesaler. “To me, that is inherently risky,” he said.
company has now reversed that policy.
“We have been saying for a long time there should be
The reason behind the move, Mark explained, is
more competition in the distribution model. Coming
that wholesalers generally only carry about 20% of
from an EOS background, we have been in a very low
Acco’s portfolio of some 5,000 products, and some
margin business with lots of competitors and you have
dealers want to source other Acco products directly
to fight every day for your share. Since we entered the
from the company in order to complement their
office products arena, it is a slightly different model
wholesale sourcing strategy.
where dealers seem to give five-year contracts to one
Mark is careful to emphasise that this move
wholesaler, guaranteeing 80% of their spend. That
isn’t about taking business from wholesalers, but
makes the wholesaler king and not the customer, and I
complementing it. “We are trying to ensure that the
have always believed the customer should be king.
wholesaler sells the products they stock and market on
[14] SEPTEMBER 2021
www.dealersupport.co.uk
