Konica Minolta celebrates the first year of its enhanced partner programme
Print Solutions
Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK) Ltd is celebrating a successful first year of its newly enhanced partner programme and partner portal, which has for example seen unit sales (of A3 and A4 multifunctional devices) increase by 128% compared to pre-pandemic figures. The company now also has 28 solo branded ‘exclusive partners’ throughout the UK, all benefitting from being an extension of the brand.
Encompassing office, professional and industrial print, along with IT solutions, the company highly successful channel development programme has seen 32 new resellers added through a careful process that avoids potential sales or geographical conflicts with existing partners (protecting the business interests of all parties). To support this ongoing growth, it has expanded its partner support management team to offer personal one to one support for lead generation, customer bids (including pricing and after sales support), along with additional marketing and PR support to ensure partners get all the visibility they need to compete in the market.
Cameron Mitchell, business leader for indirect channel, commented: ‘Over the last year we have continued to further develop our offering in line with our commitment to our partners. This includes building and developing a framework for professional print accreditation, along with new partner onboarding. With the business IT and print market continuing to evolve rapidly, our partner programme is geared towards supporting our partners as they evolve with it. This includes selling our integrated digital transformation software solutions, which are fully backed by a dedicated specialist sales team and the technical expertise of Konica Minolta’s ProcessFlows team.’
The Konica Minolta partner programme is also geared towards enabling professional print companies to move into the lucrative realm of industrial print and labelling, as Cameron added, ‘With many print businesses looking to diversify and deliver a broader range of services, there are huge opportunities for our partners to deliver Konica Minolta’s powerful but flexible and cost effective AccurioLabel range of digital presses. These presses offer greater flexibility of set up and use, with a cost effective pay per click approach which enables professional print houses to offer more to their customers. With Konica Minolta’s broad expertise in print, our partner programme is designed to actively support and reward partners looking to diversify and embrace these opportunities.’
The enhanced partner programme includes the ‘exclusive partner’ scheme, which recognises and rewards those that solely sell its hardware products and services, as well as recognition of those that specialise in specific/specialist areas (such as ITS or professional print) with specific and incentives and rewards. Cameron stated, ‘We decided to take a different approach to our competitors by shining a light on these partners that stand out in a sometimes crowded ‘me too’ market. Undoubtedly providers need to differentiate themselves more, and by delivering professional print, industrial print, or solutions they can deliver the vital systems that customers need today.’
Being a partner adds further value, as Cameron explained, ‘Undoubtedly our partners appreciate added value support with sales, marketing, and PR, along with special pricing and attractive margins. We also focus on partner events that deliver tangible benefits, networking with other partners and building a community of support that is exclusive to partners. Our accreditation really does demonstrate expertise and investment in training and support, and along with the other well deserved benefits it shows the commitment to delivering the best for customers – which is essential in standing out from the crowd.’
