Lexmark claims channel missing the chance to cross-sell

Paul Callow: Hardware dealers often neglect to add consumables to their deals

Resellers are overlooking the chance to develop customer relationships by offering consumables in hardware sales and vice versa, according to Lexmark.

Paul Callow, channels director at Lexmark, said resellers should be maximising their margins by cross-selling more. For example, looking at how a straightforward printer sale could be developed or added to – either immediately or later on.

“Very few seem to be doing this,” he said. “Hardware dealers should be able to add consumables easily to their deals, but often neglect to do so,” he added.

Callow also said Lexmark would be happy to guide wary consumables resellers through the process of negotiating potential hardware deals.

“We normally give quite a lot of discount on hardware, so the reseller supplies that at a certain price. If it doesn’t think about selling consumables too, the customer simply buys elsewhere,” said Callow.

Customers then either go through another reseller or contact the vendor direct, looking for yet another discount. This keeps margins narrow, as consumables are where the money needs to be made. Resellers that cross-sell increase profit for themselves and their vendors, Callow said.

IDC’s May 2010 Worldwide Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker showed that Lexmark lost its number-five spot in the global top five print vendors list for the first quarter. But IDC tips the consumables market to return to 3.4 per cent growth this year.

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