LeAnne Foley, Head of Indirect Sales at Toshiba Tec UK speaks to Michelle Ryder about the company’s channel recruitment drive, the value-add resellers can expect when partnering with Toshiba, and the launch of a new partner programme
LeAnne says that Toshiba’s channel strategy is centred around adding value to its partners and hints at some exciting plans in the pipeline including the launch of a revamped partner programme.
Just like every other OEM in the print market, Toshiba Tec was not immune to the many challenges posed by the COVID pandemic, and LeAnne acknowledges some of the pain points, particularly around supply chain issues.
“The past few years have been challenging, but we are fortunate to have a loyal partner base. We’ve always had very strong relationships with our resellers and because of that we continued to communicate and have the conversations we needed to ensure both Toshiba and our partners were able to effectively plan, forecast and meet customers’ expectations and needs,”
she explained.
“I’m delighted to say that we’ve now come out the other side! We are in a really strong and stable position, we’re back to being proactive rather than reactive, and we are very much looking forward to future growth within our channel.”
Recruitment drive
The print channel is an integral part of Toshiba’s growth strategy. “Our dealer partners are core to our business and whilst we are on a recruitment drive at the moment, that doesn’t mean we want to move away from our traditional partner base, on the contrary, we’re actually looking to attract new partners. But in addition, we are also looking to proactively target managed service providers (MSPs),” she continued.
LeAnne points out that the ongoing convergence of managed print and IT services and a shift among buyers to simplify purchasing and engage with one supplier to support them across the board, presents opportunity. “We want to work a little bit more closely with MSPs and provide them with a different but complementary product offering that can help them to diversify and drive additional revenue streams.
“We operate in a mature market, so it’s about identifying where value sits. And I think both MSPs and traditional resellers can offer value to customers, so we are looking to engage and work with both channels,” she added.
Supporting partners to diversify
Toshiba has a broad range of products and solutions on offer including printers and MFPs, print and device management software, barcode/label printers, document management software, digital signage, scanners from Kodak Alaris, as well as IT solutions.
The label printing market is one area which saw exponential growth during the pandemic, largely due to the rise of online shopping, and it is an area that stretches across many industries typically manufacturing, transport and logistics.
“The growth within that area of the business through COVID was exceptional,” LeAnne said, adding: “If you look at the main verticals where there’s a requirement for labels such as e-commerce, everyone was shipping parcels rather than going to shops, there’s also demand for labels in pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, retail, food, logistics, the list goes on.
“More and more of our MPS resellers are now exploring that side of the business. It’s a little bit more of a consultative sale, it can’t be sold under a click model and the applications are a little bit more niche. But this is a great example of where we are adding value. We recently added a colour label printer to our line up and we have a team of account managers that work exclusively on that side of the business. They work really closely with our partners from pre-sale all the way through to post-sale to support them and help them win in that area.”
She continued: “Offering our partners different and complementary products to help them combat the declining volumes in the traditional print sector, secure new revenue opportunities and give them a competitive advantage, I think is a win.”
Digital transformation
Another key area of focus for Toshiba is supporting partners looking to enable their customers’ digital transformation. The company works closely with a number of vendors including DocuWare, Selectec and Intuitive.
“We recognise that we need to be able to support our partners as much as possible around the digital transformation piece. We have a solution specialist, Jan Henderson who spearheads our DMS side of the business and who is 100 per cent dedicated to our channel,” LeAnne said, adding: “Cloud print is another growth area, along with our wider solutions offering.”
Delivering on its commitment to help partners capitalise on new opportunity to diversify and expand their offering, Toshiba has added to its team of channel-focused solutions specialists and indeed has another new hire joining the company in October.
LeAnne said: “As an account manager, when working with partners it’s about adding value, doing anything you can to support your partner’s sale, maximise their profits and help them scale up. More and more we’re seeing end customers going out to market and getting as many quotes as possible.
It’s almost like salespeople have got to do twice the amount of work to stand still. So, from our perspective, we’re constantly looking at what we can do to help them add value to their customers, make their customers stickier and obviously, help them grow.”
Education and training
Toshiba is accredited with the Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP) which provides development, standards and leadership to the sales profession.
Its entire sales team have achieved professional registration with the organisation, a tangible demonstration of its commitment to the highest professional standards.
LeAnne is a firm advocate of sales training and has herself achieved a degree in Professional Practice in B2B Sales. “Professional and personal development for me is always key and I think that aligns itself to our industry, because we work in technology. Yes, print is mature but everything that wraps around that offering is moving at such a fast pace. You have to keep developing yourself and your skillset, relationships will only get you so far, you have to keep on adding value.”
Education, training and lead generation are just some of the areas where Toshiba is investing to add value to its partners. “We want to professionalise what we do and we’re actively refining what that will look like in terms of launching a new revamped partner programme.
She continued: “We want to help our partners grow, we want to add value, we want to grow our own business. And a lot of that will come from adding benefits, helping our dealers with professional sales education, sharing insights on where the market is going, where opportunity lies, with training, and with lead generation. In fact, one of the biggest challenges our partners say they have is that they can’t get enough leads, that’s a huge area where we can add value.”
This focus on adding value to its partners is one of the drivers for increasing headcount in the solutions space. “Toshiba is an agile organisation; we can flex and change quickly to ensure that we are adding value in the areas our partners need us to. That’s why we’re adding to our headcount in the solutions space, to give partners access to a subject matter expert who understands the product and the market, that can go in with a partner to the customer and help them sell that package.
“Our focus now is firmly on getting back to being proactive, increasing the expertise within our skillset that our partners can leverage and utilise, keep educating and adding value,” she concluded.
