Earlier this month PrintFleet announced that during fiscal 2012 it had grown its revenues to record levels for the 2012 fiscal year. This week I speak with Elise McFarlane PrintFleet’s, Marketing Manager, about how they accomplished that feat.
You had a great 2012, what do you attribute that to?
McFarlane: We knew that change was coming for us and we tried to plan accordingly, which doesn’t sound all that thrilling, but is really important to us. Our new software launch and exceptional positioning with OEMs and Distribution businesses means our software is mission critical for thousands of dealers throughout the world. Accordingly, planning of the development activity was very important, but keeping our business partners up to date with our progress was even more important. Our Advisory Board was key with respect to this communication. We also launched a series of significant software enhancements and added new distribution partners and OEM programs to further strengthen our market position.
Who are some of the new distribution partners and can you give me an example of one or two OEM programs that have helped strengthen your market position?
McFarlane: The new distribution partners we signed last year were in the US, UK and France. Two of the larger partners from the UK include VOW and Spicers. We also re-signed several distribution partners, worked with Canon to uniquely align our software with theirs and most recently signed Samsung as a global partner. Virtually all of our client’s experienced device licenses growth as they continue to manage a greater proportion of machines in field.
Approximately 40 percent of PrintFleet’s revenues now originate outside North America, was that the result of a concerted effort to make that happen and how challenging was that in implementing?
McFarlane: It was a concerted effort and included investing in a physical location in Europe with our Swiss office in Zurich. Additionally, our software is now in the five languages, English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese and is utilized in over 125 countries. Increasingly globalization may require that we offer more products and services in more languages. We have planned for this also and have developed our software so it’s easily translatable. Currently, PrintFleet staff speak seven languages.
I understand you’ve enjoyed significant growth with the use of your solutions with direct dealer customers and that monitored device counts for these dealers are now at levels averaging in excess of 30 times that experienced in PrintFleet-powered third-party programs. How’d that happen?
McFarlane: The average dealer on a distribution program has 300 managed devices. Our direct dealers on average manage more than 7,000 devices. PrintFleet’s MPS Advisors and in-house Technical Support teams can, we believe, be the critical difference in supporting mid-sized and larger dealers that are ready to commit to MPS as a core strategy for their businesses. Our goal is simply to help them monitor all their devices remotely and improve their profit margin while saving their customers money.
Do you still think that dealers and end users are looking to embrace MPS, creating more opportunities for PrintFleet?
McFarlane: We think the opportunities for PrintFleet are immense. While there is still education that needs to happen with the dealer and end user community the growing awareness of MPS creates a desire for a better understanding. We try to help with this via PrintFleet direct efforts, as well as work with all relevant associations. An example of our direct awareness / training efforts has been the changes to our Website, an end user can go to it and find out what MPS is all about and how we can help, including helping them find a dealer in their territory who offers it with our assistance.
Why do you think dealers and OEMs like doing business with PrintFleet?
McFarlane: We find that OEMs and dealers particularly appreciate the fact that our software solutions are agnostic. We have an exceptionally large database that can correctly identify devices and our heuristic device model matching is supported by proprietary algorithms’ mandatory for reliable, actionable information. Our capabilities in terms of reporting and alerting, and the functionality of our software, are in the words of our partners, ‘the best’.
What can dealers and OEMs expect out of PrintFleet over the next nine months?
McFarlane: We will be very active in market. You will see significantly more sales and marketing initiatives. From the software side we expect another exciting year, especially as it relates to remote services. We have a number of surprises that we’ll bring to market. We hope you stay tuned.
Do you think you’ll be able to repeat last year’s success this year?
McFarlane: We’re working hard to do just that. We have programs in place to support sales growth in all of our channels and we are continuously pursuing innovation in our products and services. We have strengthened the business through some key hires, our market reach is accelerating and our product continues to be category leading, so yes we expect to exceed last year’s successes.
