thebiginterview
How does Spire differentiate itself from competitors within the tech channel? I think as Spire we continue to win business from customers who need a better experience that the one they are given by the broadline distributors. Getting goods to people when you say you will at the price agreed and following through on promises made should be fundamentals in our line of business but we are constantly being told that even these most basic of expectations are not being met by some of our competitors. Te bar is set higher than that for us though. Whilst we have a terrific website, 90% of our business is done over the phone and with a dedicated account manager. In an age when people are being pushed to buy online we buck that trend believing that relationships built beyond that help us to get a true understanding of our customers and meet their needs.
In what ways does Spire support and engage with its customers and partners in the channel? Well, I’ve already talked about how key engagement is for us. We’re easy to get hold of and quick to respond. Tere’s an expectation within the office that an incoming call will never go beyond three rings, emails are replied to in a timely manner and we even have folk contacting their account managers via WhatsApp. Being down on the South Coast has meant that getting out and seeing customers face to face has been a challenge but that’s something we’re giving more focus to. I produced a Google Map a few months ago with every single one
of our customers on it so when I’m out and about I try and take in a few retail stores as part of my trip. Nothing beats seeing people face to face. With that in mind we hosted our first trade event this year called Spire Live. We had around 150 people come and join us on Bournemouth Pier. Vendors, resellers and the Spire team mingled in the sunshine. It was a lovely location and people seemed to find it both helpful and enjoyable. We’re working hard on the next one and details will be announced shortly.
Can you provide examples of successful initiatives that Spire has been involved in? Spire Live was fantastic and the first in what I hope will be a long line of successful events. We’re putting a lot of focus on supporting the retail stores at the moment and working closely with key vendors such as Corsair and TP-Link in providing initiatives that enable those guys to not only be priced competitively but have their store well branded too. Every week we are qualifying and adding new customers to those schemes and we’ve seen and upliſt in sales for them as a result of that. Tere’s plenty of room for retail and e-tail to co-exist and thrive and we’re keen to help that continue.
What is the main impact of global events on the channel? Tere will always be products going into shortage. We’re well placed to hear about them when imminent and are quick to communicate with our customer base. Ensuring stock is available for the wider channel was something that we insisted on in recent shortages of power supply and graphics cards. It would be easy for us to sell out quickly in those circumstances to the highest bidder and focus on
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the rest of the stock in our warehouse but that would be at odds with those symbiotic relationships I’ve been referring to.
What are your thoughts on the balance between online and physical retail in the tech channel? We’re keen to support retail and champion their value add whilst recognising the incredible job some of the e-tailers are doing and helping both succeed alongside one another. Tere’s still very much space for the two to co-exist. Te needs of both have evolved in recent years with less product being purchased off our page and bespoke support being worked on with the vendors to ensure success for all. Once again that requires a team at our link in the chain who are agile, swiſt to respond and understand the nuances of distribution in 2023.
Do you have any upcoming projects, partnerships, or initiatives that you can share? Yes, we’ve got a couple of brands coming on board at the turn of the year who we’re really excited to be partnering with. Dauhau are the second biggest grossing CCTV company in the world. Tey’ve been making great monitors as a part of that solution for years and yet haven’t really pushed them particularly hard in the UK. We got talking with them at Bett Show and were impressed by just how committed they were to ventures in the UK with offices and a new team coming in and thankfully they saw us as the distributor to partner with as they grow here. Te pricing is going to be aggressive and the product one that people can be confident in.
How does Spire envision the future of the channel, and what role do you see the company playing in it? Hopefully key! I think we’ll continue to adapt to the ever-evolving needs of our resellers but as I’ve already touched upon, the growth that we’ve seen in recent years is actually down to a consistent and long-standing approach to the way we do things. As much as anything, I think us holding true to those values and our work ethic will ensure we retain the reputation we’ve forged.
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