Printerland and Xerox hatch £10m sales battle plan

Duo aiming to boost consumables attach ratio to 3:1

Print VAR Printerland is aiming to haul in £10m of Xerox revenues this year by selling more consumables and managed print services to existing customers.

The Cheshire-based outfit already claims to be Xerox's largest European dealer, with Xerox sales last year of £6m.

However, its consumables attach rate was lagging behind the industry standard, according to managing director James Kight, something he said the duo are looking to address in 2015 by more tightly co-ordinating marketing and sales efforts.

"Xerox said: 'look at all these customers you have; let's utilise them better'," Kight (pictured) said.

The industry-standard consumables attachment ratio of 3:1 means a firm selling £5m of print hardware in year one should expect to sell £15m of consumables in the following year, Kight explained. Printerland's attach ratio with Xerox currently stands at 1.6:1 and increasing this only modestly to 2:1 will make the £10m target this year achievable, he said.

"The real goal is to get to 3:1 but this will take longer," Kight added.

The pair have jointly developed a Printerland ordering app that will allow customers to order consumables directly from their printer or smartphone, he explained.

Under a newly signed strategic alliance, Xerox and Printerland will more tightly co-ordinate marketing activities as well as their efforts around managed print following the VAR's rollout of new print management software.

"I have staff reporting directly into Xerox as well so this is a strategic partnership," Kight explained.

"Rather than it just being the usual 'you go out and sell our kit and consumables', this is a massive step up and very strategic from a top level for Xerox."

Printerland, which also works with OKI, Lexmark and Brother, is targeting sales of £40m in the current calendar year, Kight said.

Andy Muskett, general manager of technology at Xerox's European Reseller and Suppiles Group, said: "We are really excited for 2015 and beyond with Printerland. Our joint objectives are now totally aligned to take our relationship to the next level."