Like many of you, I spend my “between time” – the periods between conference calls, meetings, and producing work – scanning social media and headlines.
Today, I caught a headline that was simply too good to resist: “IDC predicts the tablet market will return to growth…if you include Windows PCs.”
My first reaction: “Typewriter sales will return to growth if you include PCs.”
Sarcastic, yes. But the antithesis holds the truth in this statement: Product sales are getting harder, and no amount of wishful thinking will revive growth to the bygone days when channel partners could make bank by slinging boxes off the loading dock.
Nowadays, profitability is a product of providing true value-producing systems to businesses based on their operational needs and goals. In practice, channel partners must go beyond the box and delve into vertical specializations with applications and services built on top of high-quality hardware, with the ultimate goal of making processes more efficient and effective for customers.
In short, it’s about solutions
Xerox and The 2112 Group (my company) have partnered to produce a series of enablement packages that will guide you, the Xerox partner, on the journey to understanding how to maximize the value that comes from being a Xerox partner by leveraging profit-producing attached technologies and business models.
You see, Xerox recognizes that value is more than the product inside of the box. While the vendor produces some of the best monochrome, color, and multifunction printers in the world, it knows that the value to partners won’t come exclusively from hardware products and consumables. The true value of Xerox printers come from the evolving applications and cloud services that are attached.
The value trinity
Ultimately, that value is built on three pillars: technology (hardware), services (cloud and managed), and business practices (vertical and process alignment). Channel partners can’t find success by plying just one of these go-to-market pillars. True and sustained success that results from delivering value to customers comes from plying all three.
Xerox embarked on the journey of enabling channel partners with guidance on how to address market needs with its unique and comprehensive Partner Solutions Playbook, which provides prescriptive insights and instructions on how to build solutions for various business workflows. 2112 is extending the value of the Partner Solutions Playbooks with a series of how-to blogs, best practices guides, and case studies on how to build and implement Xerox-based technology practices.
Bringing solutions to life
Over the next four months, 2112 and Xerox will publish a series of enablement packages that help you identify available technologies and services, build services around established business needs and use cases, and adopt business and go-to-market models. These packages will address:
- Building Xerox-based, Vertically Aligned Services
- Selling Enhanced Managed Print to SMBs
- Enabling Printer-Based Solutions with Security, Mobility, and Cloud
- Identifying and Capitalizing on Untapped Opportunities
Through these guides, Xerox and 2112 will take you on a journey of discovery and execution, and hopefully provide you with inspiration that leads to results.
Keep checking back on this blog for updates from me and other members of the 2112 staff – we publish our first article on solving records filing headaches for health care providers this Thursday.
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