How a dealer defines its partnerships with customers that represent a given vertical market truly goes a long way toward ensuring repeat business. The oft-repeated phrase “people don’t care what you know until they know that you care” may be approaching cliché status, but it certainly holds true in the world of B2B relationships. When a dealer crosses the threshold of “I want your business” into the realm of “I want to support your cause,” the latter goes a long way toward guaranteeing the former.
This week’s installment of our State of the Industry focus on serving vertical markets provides a glimpse into how our dealer panel reinforces its relationships with clients through a number of support functions. It’s a reminder that the installation of an MFP or the addition of a managed service is only the beginning of what is, for some, a decades-long partnership.
Volunteering and raising funds or awareness of client endeavors has long been a staple in Prosource’s support for education, health care and non-profit clients, according to President Jay Cartisano. The dealer has been a longtime supporter of Adopt A Class, a mentorship program that connects business and civic groups with students in economically challenged schools across Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Prosource also backs its various school district partners’ fundraising events and campaigns. In 2022, it also partnered with a local university to participate as mentors in their sales training classes.
Separately, each year a Prosource team member leads an employee campaign to raise funds and awareness during “No Shave November,” culminating in a donation of more than $5,000 to benefit CancerFree KIDS.
“We have always encouraged our associates to give back to causes that are important to them and to our customers through individual days of volunteering,” Cartisano added. “Last year, we launched an organization-wide Impact Day and mobilized more than 100 team members who came together to serve nine non-profit organizations, for a total of 313 hours volunteered throughout one afternoon.
“One of our values is to take action and deliver results, and you can see that in how we support our customers and community.”
Executive Guidance
United Business Technologies (UBT) of Gaithersburg, Maryland, takes a two-pronged approach to supporting client causes. One is participating on the board of directors for various businesses and educational clients. For example, President and COO Stu Wise is on the board of Youngstown State University. It’s a delicate balancing act where Wise selects those entities where he feels he can make the most impact.
A second initiative for UBT is providing technology scholarships, either for furthering student education or enabling educational institutions to purchase technology in support of the students. “That’s really helped us build partnerships and separate us from the field of vendors,” Wise said. “Our clients truly believe that we have skin in the game and that we’re committed to their organization.”
Usherwood Office Technology employs a client journey-focused content approach that serves to increase awareness of its own brand while celebrating the accomplishments of its partners by tagging them on social media and highlighting their efforts through the dealer’s paid tactics as well as video spots. Scott Titus, marketing director for the Syracuse, New York-based dealer, notes that many of its not-for-profit and education clients are a source of pride for its employees. To that end, Usherwood is constantly seeking out ways to partner on events and initiatives that its clients can support and participate in as well.
“An example of this is a local not-for-profit that supports the arts through community theater programming,” Titus noted. “Through our partnership with them, we are hosting a client appreciation event at their facility for our clients and employees to attend a reception and then a performance of one of their productions.”
Mission-Backed
Supporting clients and the community is baked into the mission statement of Loffler Companies in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Exceeding the expectations of its community is one of the four pillars the dealer lives by, according to President James Loffler. Loffler Companies supports both non-profit and for-profit entities in a number of ways, including hosting a table at a client event or donating tickets to a sporting event that can be raffled to raise funds.
“We do a lot of event sponsorships, and oftentimes clients will require printed materials for their events,” he said. “Flyers and table design materials are other things we’ve provided in the past.”
Repeat Business Systems of Albany, New York, provides sponsorships for the events held by many of their health care clients. Coming in at a higher sponsorship level can be a pricey proposition, and President Dawn Abbuhl recalls winning over one client that used to enjoy significant sponsorships from its previous vendor. However, the one-off contributions that the provider made paled in comparison to the cost savings the client now enjoys with Repeat.
“We were able to show them that our value in pricing and the long-term engagement would save them more money than throwing a one-time gift a year at them,” she said. “But we do provide sponsorships at a modest level.”
