Annual Dealer Survey

Upward Mobility is the theme of the 39th Annual Dealer Survey featured in our October issue. Based on the results, a positive trend emerges: most dealers are thriving in the current environment.

Part II of our Annual Dealer Survey is my favorite part of the Survey because dealers rate their partners as Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, or Poor, and they include comments to support those ratings.

Don’t underestimate the perseverance of the office technology dealer channel based on our annual dealer survey.

The three leading challenges within the entire dealer universe comprising our Survey were declining clicks (27%), hiring and retention (18%), and maintaining profitability (16%).

Until this year, we began Part II of our Annual Dealer Survey examining “Areas of Greatest Concern.”

We ask dealers to rate their primary A3 MFP suppliers as “Excellent,” “Very Good,” “Good,” “Fair,” or “Poor.”

Historically, dealer ratings of their A4 OEMs tend to be lower than those of their A3 OEMs, with vendors outside the Big Six being judged more harshly (HP and Lexmark, for example).

The average number of leasing partners among the dealers aligned with the Big Six OEMs is one indication of just how vital the leasing companies are.

In case you haven’t noticed, The Cannata Report is a big advocate of production print as a diversification opportunity.

For six years, dealers have been rating their ECM/document and print management software providers.

After years of asking dealers to rate their OEM’s dealer meetings, we suspended that question during COVID before resurrecting it last year.

If it’s Autumn, it must be Survey season at The Cannata Report. And indeed, it is as we launch the first of our two Annual Dealer Survey issues.

Don’t underestimate the perseverance of the office technology dealer channel based on our annual dealer survey.

This year’s Survey had the second highest number of responses in the history of the Survey, 401, with 375 representing the Big Six manufacturers—Canon, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Ricoh, Sharp, and Toshiba.

In this year’s Survey, 825 A3 MFP lines were reported across 400 respondents.

Despite generating lower margins than A3 devices, supply chain disruptions, and chip shortages, A4 multifunction printers have taken a licking but keep on clicking.

To identify the manufacturers with the strongest distribution, we track how they ranked as a dealer’s primary and secondary equipment supplier.

Over the years of conducting our Annual Dealer Survey, we’ve found that the data in many sections remains somewhat consistent year in and year out, deviating by a few percentages or fractions of a percentage.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted dealer revenues in 2020 and 2021.

Since 2019, we’ve been tracking dealers with revenues of $10 million or greater, calling it the “$10 Million-Plus Club.” Before then, we focused on dealers with revenues of $7.5 million and higher from 2017 through 2018, and before that, dealers with revenues of $5 million and higher.

Despite the dominance of A3 and A4 devices in the office, single-function printers keep plugging along. Survey respondents cited twelve different printer brands, including one dealer identifying the discontinued OKI product line.

There’s no denying that production print is a valid diversification opportunity, particularly for dealers with the appropriate financial resources.

Much to our surprise, this year’s Survey reveals a resurgence of managed print services (MPS).

To understand the impact of revenue on productivity, we divide total dealer revenue by the average number of salespeople.

As office technology evolves, dealers that want to remain relevant with customers and continue growing their businesses must diversify their product offerings.