Samsung has unveiled its plans to tackle the B2B market.
While maintaining a healthy presence in the large display market, the firm still has a relatively small share of the rest of the business arena: less than 10 percent in mid to high-end printers, and 12-15 percent of the UK laptop market – including retail.
However, having exploited the retail channel from which 75 percent of its UK sales go through, the vendor is now fixing its eyes firmly on the B2B prize:“We feel our addressable market is £3.5bn, explains Neil Sawyer, head of marketing, IT division and corporate B2B at Samsung.
“By the end of next year we want 50 percent of our business out of B2B,” he adds.
The push into B2B has seen the firm restructure its business in a bid to simplify its relationships with the channel. This includes focusing on a core group of 15-20 ‘Elite’ VARs which Sawyer says “represent the most revenue opportunities for us as a business.” Sawyer says he expects the initiative will develop into a structured programme in time.
Sawyer says another key focus will be encouraging existing partners to cross-sell across its portfolio of laptops, printers and display products. “Less than 20 percent of customers only have one Samsung product,” he says, adding the vendor was throwing its weight behind solution sales over individual product lines. “We are strong in some areas more than others [so] we want to cross-pollinate across the portfolio.”
As part of this, the vendor has reorganised internally so that resellers will have just one account manager across its portfolio of laptops, printers and display products. Sawyer is also promising a structured rebate programme across the portfolio, and just one pot for MDF, instead of three separate pots, which he maintains will offer greater rewards for partners.
Samsung has been vocal about its intentions to crack the B2B space before, but with Sawyer describing Samsung as “growing up”, the firm maintains it is now looking to make real headway into the market. It is currently preparing more initiatives for the channel – next month it’s set to debut its first deal registration scheme that includes advanced rebates and tender support for both Elite partners and its Advanced Plus print specialists and AV dealers.
