Helping resellers offer more to existing customers
A closer look at the product expertise and fulfilment support available to DSS partners through Dynamic Supplies.
A customer relationship built around print or IT can open the door to other work. The business buying copiers may also be upgrading its meeting rooms. The customer replacing computers may need displays, peripherals and other workplace equipment.
Taking on that work involves assessing unfamiliar products, finding the right advice and deciding how to fulfil the order. A reseller needs a practical way to develop the sale and deliver it without committing more stock or handling than the opportunity warrants.
Dynamic Supplies (DS), the Australian-owned, trade-only distributor in the same group as DSS, supports partners with product expertise, national stock holdings and direct delivery to their customers.
“We are more than ink and toner,” says Margaret De Francesco, General Manager at Dynamic Supplies. “We want resellers to understand the wider range available to them, but also the support behind it. The opportunity is to meet more of their customers’ needs with our people, vendor relationships and distribution capability supporting the sale.”
A broader range for existing customers
DS has operated for 32 years, building its business in print distribution. During Margaret’s 7 years with the company, its range has expanded from 12 print vendor brands to more than 65 vendors across print, technology and office products.
Alongside printers and consumables, that includes computing and networking equipment, displays, audio-visual products and workplace accessories. For partners already buying from DS, relevant products in those categories may be available through an account and team they already know.
Meeting room technology is a useful example. A reseller supplying copiers to a business may also be able to supply the interactive displays and audio equipment it needs for Teams meetings. The customer relationship provides an opening to discuss the requirement; DS’s broader range gives the partner products to explore.
“Your customer may know you very well for one part of their business without realising what else you can supply,” Margaret says. “A meeting room is a logical conversation for a partner already supplying office technology. We can help them understand the display and AV options and involve the relevant vendors.”
The opportunity will differ between partners. A print reseller might start with meeting room products, while an IT service provider may find additional opportunities in peripherals or workplace equipment. The useful starting point is a need within the customer base, followed by a discussion about where DS can support it.
Bring product expertise into the customer conversation
Access to a product range gives a reseller options. Evaluating those options requires product knowledge, particularly when a request sits outside the categories the partner handles every day.
DS’s account managers can bring product managers and vendor contacts into the discussion. Those relationships give partners a route to specialist input as they assess a requirement and develop a proposal.
“You don’t need to be an expert in every category to recognise an opportunity,” Margaret says. “You bring your understanding of the customer. We can bring product managers and vendor contacts into the discussion to help you work through the options and develop the sale.”
For a meeting room enquiry, useful starting information might include how the space will be used, the equipment already in place, and the customer’s budget and timing. That gives the product team and vendor context for discussing suitable equipment.
The reseller can therefore involve DS while the opportunity is still taking shape. An enquiry can begin with what the customer needs to achieve, with product questions worked through with the relevant specialists.
DS also provides reseller resources including product imagery, sales catalogues and free customisable email and PDF marketing materials. These give partners material to draw on when introducing products to customers or planning a campaign around a category they want to develop.
Direct fulfilment on the reseller’s behalf
A broader offering also has implications for purchasing and delivery. Receiving products into your own premises, storing them and arranging another shipment adds handling to each order. Holding stock across a new category also commits working capital before customer demand is established.
DS’s direct delivery service provides another way to fulfil the sale. It ships products to the end customer on the reseller’s behalf, using reseller-specific paperwork and packaging options. Known as blind fulfilment, the service allows the delivery to appear to come from the reseller.
“Resellers can pursue a sale in a new category without first committing to holding a range of stock,” Margaret says. “They can draw on the inventory we hold and have the order delivered on their behalf. That is particularly useful when they want to explore an opportunity while keeping a close eye on working capital.”
This can support everyday consumables orders as well as purchases from the broader range. Products move from DS’s inventory to the customer without needing to pass through the reseller’s premises.
The customer relationship and sale remain with the reseller. DS operates exclusively through the channel, including when it delivers an order directly to an end user.
Stock and distribution behind the delivery promise
That fulfilment model is backed by five distribution centres across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, with stock held in each location.
This national footprint helps resellers support customers across multiple sites, providing access to stock and fulfilment beyond their own premises.
“A reseller is putting its own name behind the delivery promise,” Margaret says. “Keeping stock across the country helps us support those commitments. Product availability and delivery requirements need to be part of the conversation as the order comes together.”
Product data and purchasing support
For partners managing repeat purchasing or substantial transaction volumes, the administration around orders can also be worth examining.
DS offers a product data feed service for resellers managing product information in their own systems. It can also discuss electronic data interchange (EDI) connections, subject to the systems involved. Where suitable, EDI can automate the exchange of business information between DS and the reseller’s systems.
Customer-specific reporting is another option, drawing on the customer, product and transaction data held in DS’s systems. Partners can discuss the information they need with the team and explore how reporting could support their purchasing processes.
“It is worth looking at the work around each order as well as the order itself,” Margaret says. “If a partner has a particular systems or reporting requirement, we can look at that with them. Understanding how they operate helps us identify where we may be able to make things easier.”
Start with the customer requirement
DS’s sales and customer service team includes around 30 people across Australia. Average staff tenure across the business exceeds 13 years, providing continuity in a business Margaret describes as being built on relationships.
For an existing DS customer, an account contact can be the starting point for a product enquiry, a discussion about direct fulfilment or a review of purchasing requirements. DSS partners exploring DS for the first time can also contact Margaret directly.
“If you’re not sure who to speak to, I’m happy for you to start with me,” she says. “Tell me what you’re working on, and I can connect you with the account or product team best placed to help.”
Have a customer requirement or a product category you would like to explore? Email Margaret.
Margaret De Francesco
Margaret has more than 30 years’ experience across IT distribution, wholesale and office products. Since joining in 2019, she has led the business’s expansion into new product categories.
