{"id":14054,"date":"2015-09-01T10:45:07","date_gmt":"2015-09-01T17:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=14054"},"modified":"2016-09-15T09:45:52","modified_gmt":"2016-09-15T16:45:52","slug":"david-concors-delves-deeper-into-supplies-networks-diversification-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2015\/09\/david-concors-delves-deeper-into-supplies-networks-diversification-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"David Concors Delves Deeper into Supplies Network\u2019s Diversification Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"David

David Concors<\/p><\/div>\n

(Editor\u2019s note: The September feature in ENX is \u201cDiversification in the Supplies and Aftermarket Markets.\u201d That\u2019s the theme for this month too in ENX\/The Week in Imaging. Throughout the month we\u2019ll be presenting complimentary editorial that delves deeper into how various suppliers and wholesalers are broadening their product offerings. Our conversation with David Concors expands further into Supplies Network\u2019s diversification strategy and includes material that was not included in the September feature because of space constraints.) <\/em><\/p>\n

At Supplies Network, diversification encompasses products and services, including MPS and some traditional services. David Concors, vice president of sales, reports that in terms of products the company has diversified heavily into printers across all the major OEMs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe diversification has more to do with the amount of equipment we\u2019re stocking and the resources we\u2019re hiring, moving from traditional sales roles into more of a specialist role,\u201d states Concors.<\/p>\n

Supplies Network now has a team of printer advisors that\u2019s an overlay to its sales force. They\u2019re tasked with helping resellers source hardware by assessing needs, then aligning with the best possible manufacturer rebates and special offers. While predominantly focused on A4, the company has a similar strategy for A3 and has hired a rep with a copier background to help Supplies Network expand its presence in the MFP space.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving an A3 specialist is helping us to diversify and build an A3 multifunction presence. We have invested in both the stocking of inventory and hiring of incremental resources with relevant backgrounds to help accelerate that business,\u201d reports Concors.<\/p>\n

Another area of product diversification is wide format.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sell a significant amount already but have never formalized that business model,\u201d states Concors. \u201cWe\u2019re now aligning more closely with manufacturers to increase our inventory on wide format so that we attract a wider array of resellers who today may not look to us for traditional ink and toner, but may look to us for a depth and breadth of wide format products.\u201d<\/p>\n

Concors is also passionate about Supplies Network\u2019s expansion into services.<\/p>\n

\u201cServices are helping us create more value beyond just simply a buy-sell relationship with our customers,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are areas in MPS and the imaging category where there\u2019s a great need to further support our resellers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Examples include a recently launched national printer installation service. The company dispatches its network of service technicians to end-user locations to do the onsite setup of printers and MFPs. Because of its distribution model, Supplies Network allows customers to take advantage of instant rebates, manufacturer specials, and buying in bulk when sourcing the equipment from Supplies Network.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can also look to Supplies Network to help store a large purchase and then leverage our installation service to coordinate the shipment of those devices to the right location to meet the technician at the right time and do the installation,\u201d explains Concors. \u201cIt\u2019s not just printer installation, we also have the capacity to manage the storage of those devices so they can take advantage of the economies of scale associated with making a large purchase. Many may not have space or capacity to store them in their own facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another area of service diversification is local device management as it relates to MPS.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a local device management solution that enables customers to include the local devices that today are typically difficult to manage,\u201d states Concors. \u201cWe incorporate those into our MPS model and assume responsibility for managing the supplies replenishment and the servicing of those devices. This simplifies the resellers\u2019 ability to secure all devices in an environment where historically they tend to take the network, but have a difficult time managing to the locals.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, Supplies Network has aligned itself with two leading finance companies to provide customers with expanded terms to satisfy large, high-volume purchases of both hardware and supplies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s us doing the things we need to do to be a formidable player in the hardware space,\u201d emphasizes Concors.<\/p>\n

The company is also looking to build out its national break-fix service component, a component unrelated to MPS.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody can call us at any time and ask us to fix it, and we would do that for anything not connected to our MPS program,\u201d says Concors. \u201cThis adds more value to customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last but not least, Supplies Network is offering hardware configurations.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany printers we sell require software to be loaded or flashing to be done to certain devices, like in Lexmark\u2019s BSD program to make them eligible for the BSD supplies to work properly in the devices,\u201d observes Concors. \u201cWe are in the process of evaluating our ability to create a configuration center in our distribution centers to provide that expanded service and minimize the amount of vendors or solution providers our resellers have to rely on. We\u2019d like to have the full hierarchy of being able to allow that reseller to source from us, configure from us and store and install from Supplies Network as part of our hardware program.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Editor\u2019s note: The September feature in ENX is \u201cDiversification in the Supplies and Aftermarket Markets.\u201d That\u2019s the theme for this month too in ENX\/The Week in Imaging. Throughout the month we\u2019ll be presenting complimentary editorial that delves deeper into how various suppliers and wholesalers are broadening their product offerings. Our conversation with David Concors expands further into Supplies Network\u2019s diversification strategy and includes material that was not included in the September feature because of space constraints.) At Supplies Network, diversification encompasses products and services, including MPS and some traditional services. David Concors, vice president of sales, reports that in terms of products the company has diversified heavily into printers across all the major OEMs. \u201cThe diversification has more to do with the amount of equipment we\u2019re stocking and the resources we\u2019re hiring, moving from traditional sales roles into more of a specialist role,\u201d states Concors. Supplies Network now has a team of printer advisors that\u2019s an overlay to its sales force. They\u2019re tasked with helping resellers source hardware by assessing needs, then aligning with the best possible manufacturer rebates and special offers. While predominantly focused on A4, the company has a similar strategy for A3 and has hired a rep with a copier background to help Supplies Network expand its presence in the MFP space. \u201cHaving an A3 specialist is helping us to diversify and build an A3 multifunction presence. We have invested in both the stocking of inventory and hiring of incremental resources with relevant backgrounds to help accelerate that business,\u201d reports Concors. Another area of product diversification is wide format. \u201cWe sell a significant amount already but have never formalized that business model,\u201d states Concors. \u201cWe\u2019re now aligning more closely with manufacturers to increase our inventory on wide format so that we attract a wider array of resellers who today may not look to us for traditional ink and toner, but may look to us for a depth and breadth of wide format products.\u201d Concors is also passionate about Supplies Network\u2019s expansion into services. \u201cServices are helping us create more value beyond just simply a buy-sell relationship with our customers,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are areas in MPS and the imaging category where there\u2019s a great need to further support our resellers.\u201d Examples include a recently launched national printer installation service. The company dispatches its network of service technicians to end-user locations to do the onsite setup of printers and MFPs. Because of its distribution model, Supplies Network allows customers to take advantage of instant rebates, manufacturer specials, and buying in bulk when sourcing the equipment from Supplies Network. \u201cThey can also look to Supplies Network to help store a large purchase and then leverage our installation service to coordinate the shipment of those devices to the right location to meet the technician at the right time and do the installation,\u201d explains Concors. \u201cIt\u2019s not just printer installation, we also have the capacity to manage the storage of those devices so they can take advantage of the economies of scale associated with making a large purchase. Many may not have space or capacity to store them in their own facilities.\u201d Another area of service diversification is local device management as it relates to MPS. \u201cWe have a local device management solution that enables customers to include the local devices that today are typically difficult to manage,\u201d states Concors. \u201cWe incorporate those into our MPS model and assume responsibility for managing the supplies replenishment and the servicing of those devices. This simplifies the resellers\u2019 ability to secure all devices in an environment where historically they tend to take the network, but have a difficult time managing to the locals.\u201d In addition, Supplies Network has aligned itself with two leading finance companies to provide customers with expanded terms to satisfy large, high-volume purchases of both hardware and supplies. \u201cThat\u2019s us doing the things we need to do to be a formidable player in the hardware space,\u201d emphasizes Concors. The company is also looking to build out its national break-fix service component, a component unrelated to MPS. \u201cAnybody can call us at any time and ask us to fix it, and we would do that for anything not connected to our MPS program,\u201d says Concors. \u201cThis adds more value to customers.\u201d Last but not least, Supplies Network is offering hardware configurations. \u201cMany printers we sell require software to be loaded or flashing to be done to certain devices, like in Lexmark\u2019s BSD program to make them eligible for the BSD supplies to work properly in the devices,\u201d observes Concors. \u201cWe are in the process of evaluating our ability to create a configuration center in our distribution centers to provide that expanded service and minimize the amount of vendors or solution providers our resellers have to rely on. We\u2019d like to have the full hierarchy of being able to allow that reseller to source from us, configure from us and store and install from Supplies Network as part of our hardware program.\u201d  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[82,1638],"tags":[2220,2366,340],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14054"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14054"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14055,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14054\/revisions\/14055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}