When you consider the concept of choosing partners, you are bound to have a variety of reactions. In one dynamic of your life, it involves a person with whom you will spend the rest of your life as in a marriage. In business, it impacts the individual or group that will collaborate with you on behalf of a key project or the entire organization as a whole.
In the dynamic landscape of business, the choice of supplier partners plays a pivotal role in the success and sustainability of an enterprise. Whether you're a small startup or a multinational corporation, selecting the right supplier partner can significantly impact your operations, customer satisfaction, and bottom line.
Here, we delve into the crucial aspects we at WJ Office have experienced when choosing a supplier partner throughout our history.
In my 47+ years in this business, I’ve made good choices and some that I would certainly like to forget. The best decisions, like a marriage, can be blissful, full of trust and fulfillment, or very painful.
I speak from experience on this. For example, before WJ Office sold copiers, we were fully committed to typewriters. Well, when that technology slid off its peak, we had to examine other options. in the 1990s, the PC business was still a tough business to crack for several reasons no least of which was finding qualified folks who could support end users. Copiers, however, were common among our customers, and we were confident we could develop the capacity to support sales in this new segment.
With that in view, our next questions were in plain sight. Who do you choose when you are the newcomer in a given area? Who would choose you and allow you to represent them? The options were limited, but we conducted a very measured and logical search and then made a choice. It was a viable choice at the time, but in time we realized that it was tough to grow this business with only three mountain counties in which to market their products. We were also restricted from selling their copiers in many of the other counties in which we sold other products.
In 2002, a representative from the Savin brand of Ricoh called me and asked if I was interested in adding another line. My answer was “yes” if I could get authorization in Wilkes, Caldwell, Burke, and Catawba.As it turned out, the reason that he was calling me was because the Savin dealer in my territory was sold to Toshiba. That copier company was marketing its products directly to end users in the area. The Savin rep knew his customer base would run dry if he didn’t get another dealer in place for the line. So WJ Office took on the Savin line, giving us a strong product offering and leverage with the original copier vendor who had been taking us for granted and whose support had deteriorated significantly over the years.
Twelve years later we added Samsung, a brand that had gained some traction in the printing marketplace. It had a good recommendation from another copier dealer we knew fairly well at the time. Long story short, it was a mistake. Samsung products were a disappointment, yet that situation gave us an inside track to becoming an authorized HP Premier dealer.
This has been a key part of our continued growth, not only in copiers and printers, but also the managed print part of our business. It also keeps Ricoh “on its toes” when dealing with us because we have a second very outstanding line of products that we can move to if we need to and vice versa. That’s one of the benefits of being an independent dealership.
So, in summary, just like in life, choosing partners in your business is critical to fulfillment and success. You don’t always get it right the first time, but if you keep looking, that right partner or partners are there to help you achieve your goals.
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