Sharp’s Shane Coffey responds to questions about the company’s go-to-market strategy for its digital presses.
For those who may not have seen the video of yours truly ripping open a fabric-covered doorway at the Sharp dealer meeting in April to reveal Sharp’s first production print products in the product showcase, that was a special moment for Sharp and me. There were two products on display at the product showcase.
Two months after that huge introduction, I thought this would be a good time to follow up with Shane Coffey, vice president, product management for Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America, about where the company is in its production print journey.
I had an interesting conversation with Coffey about Sharp’s production print products, and quite frankly, I was impressed by how far along Sharp is in the preparation of launching the products that were displayed at the Wynn in Las Vegas in April.
What will be the initial product names and model numbers that will be offered to the dealers?
Coffey: We do not yet have model numbers or names for them. That information is forthcoming shortly and we will be happy to provide it for you. Initially we will be offering two Sharp 120 ppm color digital presses (6-color and 4-color versions of the same machine) and the two 120-ppm Sharp mono digital presses are 125 ppm and 136 ppm.
When will they be released? And, when will others follow?
Coffey: The plan is to have them rolled out virtually simultaneously – color first – with the first shipment in January and the monochrome released in March. An additional product is in the pipeline as our intent is to broaden the relationship. We will have announcements later in the year about new product availability.
Will you be building an organization to manage the production print products? And will you be hiring subject matter experts (SMEs) in this area of the business to help with the launch?
Coffey: We are not going to learn as we go. The time we have available is too short and we already have people who are engaged in production, and they will have every opportunity to participate in building a bigger, better resourced organization to support the sale of the new products. As I said, time is too short for us to grow organically. It is our intent to on board people who have expertise in the area. We will bring in people who have the necessary experience with the kind of products we will now have available for our branches and dealers.
You have about seven months to get your production print business going. As you said, that is an incredibly brief time to start from nothing to sell 120-ppm digital color presses. What is the plan?
Coffey: We know what must be done – we need more resources and certain things will be done to gain those capabilities. We will have regional centers where we have these products accessible to dealers where they can demo the products with experts to their customers. These experts will help the dealers during the presentation and respond to any question related to applications and functionality of the printers.
If we understand you correctly, dealers will be able to promote and engage in selling the new production print machines before they have purchased one?
Coffey: Sharp wants as many dealers to take these products on – those dealers indicating, they will want to service them will be trained. These machines have a six-month sales cycle, and we want to be able for them to start selling as soon as possible. At least that is our initial thought. That can change eventually, and the dealer will be trained to service with the very first machines they sell. That is easy to say and tougher to do but, that is our current thinking.
It is our intent to make this as easy a transition as possible. There are some dealers who may not need these types of resources because they are already involved in selling production print and can be trained on the product sooner rather than later.
So, dealers can work directly with Sharp to sell the machines, and Sharp will service them?
Coffey: Yes! We are confident that there are Sharp dealers that are self-sufficient and will not need this. For those that do, we can foresee dealers using the demo rooms for the first year and be ready to move on after that and do it all themselves. That is what we want to see happen.
It seems like the intent is to help dealers grow into this production print space at their own pace, and at their discretion. Can they opt to be service trained and do it all themselves?
Coffey: Yes! What it also does is create an opportunity for dealers to start selling as quickly as possible. It also gives them time to build an organization internally. The hope is they desire at some point to become self-sufficient.
What is the thinking behind this transition plan that Sharp has worked out?
Coffey: As we said previously it can take as much as six months to sell one of these machines. We recognize we need to provide materials for dealers to start talking to their customers so when the products come out, they are already developing leads. We want the dealers to begin engaging their customers as early as possible.
What will the Sharp production print organization look like?
Coffey: The structure is being discussed. We recognize that we need to provide a level of support and that kind of support is essential for our success and the dealer’s success. Our existing structure cannot do that. We must build an organization that encompasses SMEs that can support the dealers. We do have production print managers. That group will be expanded – they will need more resources. We must add people that are SMEs on the products today. We must come out of the gate with a full platform of sales, service, and support options to serve every dealer.
Shane, is there anything you would like to add?
Coffey: Yes! Our own production people are delighted that we have expanded our footprint in this important space. They are looking forward to collaborating with dealers on a much broader product offering. There is a growth opportunity for them as well as for our dealers.
Summing It Up
We are excited about the opportunity Sharp is providing for its dealers. They are making it possible for as many of their dealers to sell production print as are interested. They recognize there are those who simply will not make the investment. For those, at least initially, there is an opportunity to be involved at no cost to them.
