Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Co. has launched a new territory sales team to support its partners working in the SMB multifunction product (MFP) monochrome and colour print space in an effort to help the company capitalize on market opportunities and help partners drive sales.
The go-to-market (GTM) sales unit is made up of 19 individuals who are dispersed across Canada and includes eight outside and six inside sales representatives, four solution architect trainers and a national sales manager. Together, the sales reps and trainers are located in the Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Calgary and Vancouver areas.
Patrick Harrison, national sales manager for SMBs at HP Canada, said the vendor sees a significant amount of market opportunity for partners to tap into in the MFP space.
“We’re competing with competitors who are either selling direct or who are talking directly with customers,” Harrison said. “We invested in this team to enable our partners to have the right conversations with their customers because we want them to drive preference for HP in the SMB space.”
The team, Harrison said, will work with HP partners to create customer opportunities in the SMB MFP market by speaking directly with customers.
Paul Edwards, director of SMB and channel strategies at IDC Canada, said that while putting sales representatives into the field to gain more physical presence is always a good thing, there are costs to take into consideration.
“It will take HP time before they realize any return on investment (ROI) on the reps,” said Edwards. “They’ll also have to make sure their strategy drives revenue and profit as well as partner business and satisfaction. But with SMB, there are so many companies in this space and it’s such a huge, diverse and dispersed market.”
Harrison said HP Canada is also in the midst of recruiting additional partners to add to its current partner base to help it gain more ground in the Canadian market. He said the company hopes to see significant growth in the MFP space with the addition of the GTM sales unit.
“One of the key messages we’re looking to get out there is to help our partners capitalize on the imaging and printing opportunities,” Harrison said. “For partners who are willing to make the investments, we’re willing to help them. If our team is successful, that means significant growth for our partners because when we win, our partners win.”
