Data protection solutions…. a new market opportunity?

Very few dealers actively sell shredders. Why is this? 

Maybe because often the mainstream brand machines are available to end users on the web at close to or even below dealer buy-in prices, and to invest the effort into a multi-machine deal, only to either resort to discounting down to web prices or lose the deal entirely is not only incredibly frustrating, but also financially unproductive.

Shredders tend to be sold as a reactive commodity when customers get in touch and actively want to buy a machine.  Most dealer salespeople do not possess the time or the data protection knowledge to actively engage and sell these machines, beyond taking the order for the machine that customer has usually already decided to buy.

Many dealers are unaware that the Shredding Services Market, valued in 2019 at £220m per annum can be a rich source of high value, high margin business if approached correctly.  In addition, it can demonstrate new areas of competence and expertise to your customers and open the door to higher level contacts and new opportunities in other product areas.

ISO 21964 states that shredding in-house is inherently more secure than shredding services.  A document that is shredded to an appropriate security level as soon as it is no longer required immediately poses no security threat and is completely secure. 

In contrast, a sensitive document left whole in (or sometimes, when full, on top of) a shredding console for days or weeks remains at risk of unauthorised access and threats of

• Accidental loss
• Commercial or state sponsored espionage
• Inside attack from disgruntled employees or investigative journalists
• Theft from site, vehicle, storage or destruction facility

Under GDPR your customers are still liable for the ultimate security of personal data even though they may have passed it to a third-party shredding service.  A non-specific ‘Certificate of Destruction’ will not protect them from the potential serious consequences of a data breach!

So, the best way to keep company, customer and employee data safe, is to destroy documents containing sensitive commercial and personal data as soon as they are no longer required using a fleet of appropriately secure and sized in-house shredders.  Supported by HSM’s expert sales team, this is something you can confidently discuss with and sell to your customers.

Not only will your customers’ data be significantly more secure, but many will be surprised to find that typical savings over 5 years of 60-80% are very a persuasive factor in making the switch. 

With packages incorporating machines, service support and leasing, the cost comparison against machine prices on the web largely disappears as the significant quarterly savings against shredding service costs become the primary focus.

As an example, we assisted one of our dealers to sell 35 machines to keep car dealership group, Vospers, customers’ information secure, whilst they saved more than 80% over five years compared to their quote for a shredding service. Read the case study here.

Come and see HSM at Dealer Support LIVE 2021 to understand how you can both profitably sell shredders and keep your customers more secure. To book your tickets now click here.