With hybrid working here to stay there are opportunities for dealers to help employers upgrade their employees’ home office technology to ensure they are as productive as possible
When the first COVID pandemic lockdown was announced, two years ago, many office staff became homeworkers overnight; they needed equipment – and fast – to be able to continue their work. They bought technology that was seen as a temporary solution, as nobody then knew how long the pandemic would last.
Fast forward two years, and homeworking, or hybrid working between home and office, is now the norm for many employees – and, as a result, they are looking to upgrade the technology in their home workspaces to ensure they can be as productive at home as in the office. “Over the past two years companies have had to reconsider how and where their employees should work, and this shift has provided dealers with the opportunity to upsell technology accessories,” says James Pittick, director, B2B Indirect Sales, Canon UK & Ireland.
“As hybrid workspaces continue to evolve, partners will need to re-examine their product portfolios and services to ensure they are meeting customer needs; those partners that can assist customers, whether they are working from home, the office, or another environment, will find the most opportunities for upselling.
“Being able to understand what customers need to achieve their goals as they work remotely is important, so resellers must look to build strong customer relationships where possible to gain insights they can act on. Effective hybrid workspaces mean more than individual devices, software or services; customers require an ecosystem of technologies and services that provide solutions to support their changing requirements.”
IT priorities
James adds that, as hybrid working has evolved, demand has grown for home printing devices and personal scanners. “This has created several challenges for IT teams who are now having to manage a greater number of home use devices, while ensuring data integrity and device end point security are maintained,” he says. “Because of this, we’ve seen an increasing demand document workflow solutions and cloud solutions, which help provide secure management and precise reporting on printing usage.”
Russell Brown, head of sales – SOHO business unit at Brother UK, agrees that IT managers must prioritise ensuring staff have everything they need to work as productively at home as they can in the office. “This hangs on remote employees having access to office-grade equipment, such as monitors, headsets and even chairs,” he says.
“This presents a fantastic opportunity for resellers to upsell. But we found that almost half of IT decision makers intend on giving staff greater autonomy over tech decisions as they shift their businesses to permanent hybrid working models. So, dealers may need to cast nets wider to make the most of these new sales opportunities.
“Dealers and their customers will also need to work more closely to mitigate the risks that come with workers acquiring their own tech. Namely, reduced cost-efficiency and threats to network security. Resellers can shore-up customers’ vulnerabilities by delivering needs-based assessments, which will also help to identify what individuals may need to improve their home set-up.”
Russell adds that Brother is seeing greater demand for hybrid working solutions such as inkjet printers with a compact footprint but deliver the quality, quantity and speed that workers are used to in the office, meaning productivity remains high.
“We know that just 13% of IT leads expect their firms’ employees to be in the office on a full-time basis beyond the next two years, so we also know that the trend for improving home office tech will only continue,” he adds. “Reaching this point successfully will require continual management and upgrading of workers’ tech. Switching customers to managed print service contracts, which have flexibility and scalability built-in, presents fertile ground for resellers looking to expand revenue streams further.”
Kevin Dobson, product manager at Epson UK, adds that many homeworkers will be looking to bring the optimised functionality of the office to their home environment. “These homeworking needs can range from sustainable print, dedicated scan, or even wide screen projection for a more immersive engagement over Teams or Zoom,” he says. “The opportunity for dealers is therefore to provide accessories that are suitable for the home workspace, but that match the needs and demands of the modern workforce.
“Cost savings, increased productivity and reduced environmental impacts are USPs that everyone wants to see in the technology sector [and] delivering all these without compromising the other benefits.”
Close customer relationships
Kevin adds that Epson has an indirect sales channel that relies on its dealers to echo key messaging to the customer. “Customers share a similar reliance on dealers to offer quality homeworking solutions that are optimised for their needs, rather than focusing on profitability,” he says.
Jeff May, UK sales director at collaboration device manufacturer Konftel, agrees that it’s important for dealers to have a close relationship with their customers to help advise on what they need for home/hybrid workers. “This will be an ongoing trend over the course of the year and beyond,” he says.
Another trend will be for collaborative technology, such as online conferencing facilities, with the aim of providing faster responses to sales opportunities, higher quality customer interactions and better support for partners and employees, he adds. “Increased productivity can be also generated with more efficient meetings, easier collaboration and less travel time.” Businesses are also looking to buy more webcams for those working from home, compared to standard companies.
“It’s clear there are many opportunities dealers can embrace,” Jeff says.
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