In early March, we at ARLINGTON were gaining momentum heading into trade show season. We were planning direct mail promotions and upcoming dealer events, and beginning to see substantial growth in various segments of our toner business.
Suddenly, the world as we knew it was changing around us. Our staff was wrapping up sessions at Disney’s Grand Floridian IBPI/BTA Conference when we learned the Disney parks were closing by the end of the weekend. California and other states were beginning to enforce stay-at-home orders, and it seemed inevitable that COVID-19 was going to affect the business of ARLINGTON and its customers.
Our first step was to determine and verify which of our offerings were truly “essential” business products. Fortunately for us, our support of medical, state, federal and local governments through our dealers was vital for the nation to continue operating. ARLINGTON was able to develop a work-from-home plan and, thanks to the incredible talent in our IT team, had sales and administrative employees working from home by mid-March. Our dedicated warehouse employees in our five distribution centers were committed to filling the orders that would be crucial to keeping our business operating.
Client Approach
Now that we were confident in our operations, our attention shifted to our customers. It was critical to make sure our dealers and resellers were aware our operations were not only running, but necessary to our customers and their end-users through any pandemic. I immediately turned to Kelly Munro, ARLINGTON’s strategic account executive and fellow veteran in the imaging channel. Kelly and I had completed 12 monthly webinars throughout the previous calendar year and were looking to scale back in 2020. Or so we thought.
On March 19, during my final week working in Arlington’s Charlotte office, Kelly and I hosted a webinar for our customers, “Navigating Business During These Unprecedented Times” and the reaction was overwhelming. We discussed our plan as a distributor to support their essential business throughout this pandemic, and the questions we were asked led to a follow-up meeting the next week from our new home offices. For 15 straight weeks we met with our dealers, special guest speakers and other Arlington team members to work through this disruption together.
The process was interesting, and we ultimately created a historical library of the changes our nation faced, from stay-at-home orders to the uncertainty of a closed nation and, eventually, to the reopening of America. Throughout the webinar series, we addressed how business was changing in our channel as the country’s business model adjusted before our eyes, as well as how our dealers and vendors were adapting.
Changing Focus
Suddenly, toner sales dropped and ink sales rose significantly in their place. A redeeming quality for ARLINGTON was having ink to sell in those early months. Unfortunately, the nation’s supply of many of those ink models was not prepared for the sudden unanticipated spike in business. Still, we managed to procure stock and fill orders while reminding our dealers that the new opportunity had arisen because of the vacant corporate offices and newly created home offices.
The emerging growth of the new home offices offered a new set of opportunities and challenges for our dealers, and the webinars became a natural vehicle to share methods for adapting week to week. Thinking outside the box was not just an additional method for growth, but it became required for survival. The enterprise MPS business was in a downward spiral as office prints decreased to record lows and employees began to adapt to more digital means of sharing from home. Still, this would not kill print, but rather would provide opportunity for new sales opportunities.
Inkjet Issue
Why are home-office users printing from inkjet devices? Most users do not require color printing to meet their printing requirements. So shifting the thinking toward low-cost mono laser solutions for home office developed more appeal—educating consumers about the long-term value of laser A4 devices in the home office became the pitch.
Additionally, the need for companies and families to reduce expenses led to a natural conversion to aftermarket supplies and alternative replacement cartridges. The value our dealers bring to their customers can now be put on display as they truly walk their customers through the pros and cons of inkjet versus laser printing and the ultimate return on investment for various situations.
Small-office products and imaging dealers now have the ball back in their court. The pandemic has many business owners seeking answers, and safety is important to them. This allows the imaging dealer to offer products, services and solutions that can help allay their fears and keep their businesses running safely.
As some businesses begin returning to the office, executive leadership is now required to provide staff safety protocol that ensures the well-being of employees. Therefore, more opportunity presents itself as large office settings may move away from shared A3 device in public setting to personal desktop A4 devices at each employee’s workspace. Those business environments that did not want to make this adjustment will now need to ensure the shared printer or copier is kept sanitized. This means device-specific cleaning products available through a distribution partner can provide additional revenue for our resellers.
Many end-users may clean their common area print devices with traditional over-the-counter products, ultimately damaging their print investments. Vendors such as Maine-based KICTeam have products specifically designed for cleaning digital screens, key pads and product exteriors to help protect the product and maintain a clean environment for users in the midst of a seemingly uncontrollable virus.
Whether dealers are meeting face to face or via Zoom meetings, the continued conversation with customers, and learning what their needs are, is more important than ever. Dealers now need to look outside their lanes of strength and consider new possibilities for revenue and growth as the world evolves around us. Find a distributor that can provide those additional products and services so your business can focus on solving your customer’s problems.
The pandemic has allowed us as a distributor to grow closer to our customers as we’ve learned and adapted together. We still don’t know all that’s in store for us in the coming months, but we do know that we are not doing it alone and strong partnerships will continue to enhance all successful imaging channel business moving forward.
