HP appoints first UK 'services-only' distributor

Start-up distributor TSD was launched on 1 November to help HP VARs bolster service offerings

At your service: TSD has launched with the aim of supplying HP services to resellers' customers

A newcomer has entered the distribution market in the form of Technical Services Distribution (TSD), which bills itself as the first services-only distributor in the UK.

The firm was born out of marketing agency Integrated Results and officially launched on 1 November. It has been set up to sell HP services to the vendor’s accredited partners and will not focus on hardware sales. That job will be left to HP’s other distributors, which include SDG, Azlan, ETC and Avnet.

Rob Watson, general manager of TSD, said: “We have set up this company because we believe there is massive, untapped potential for services sales. Resellers know that services offer great margins and huge potential for incremental income, especially in the current economic climate when replacement cycles are being extended.

“It is not always obvious which services best meet the needs of customers though, and it is difficult for resellers to keep totally up to date with the various offerings, pricing and promotions,” he said.

Watson admitted there would be some trust issues as resellers got to grips with the sales model.

“Trust is bound to come up as an issue,” he said. “We can offer whatever the individual resellers want. We have the marketing design and development function and if they want us to, we can contact all their customers on their behalf and go right through the sales process for them.

“Resellers will get the same margin as before but they can opt for the passive income model or get as involved as they like,” he said.

The firm, which is currently recruiting headcount, is working hard to develop specific sales tools and will be implementing joint marketing initiatives on behalf of HP, Watson added.