For Data#3 managing director, John Grant, a great reputation is key to success in business. That’s why winning ARN’s Enterprise Reseller of the Year for the second year in a row is so significant.
“Because this is a peer-based award, it speaks to our strong reputation within the industry,” he said. “I certainly don’t think you can sell with a bad one.”
As competition grows tougher amid the global financial crisis and rivals offer increasingly low prices to customers, Grant said having a solid corporate history and a trustworthy name were vital to sealing the deal.
“You’re not going to do business these days unless you’ve got pricing a customer is willing to accept. Once you’ve got that, then the customer is going to do business with people they can trust and know they can do business with and that’s where reputation plays its part,” he said.
“It’s expensive for customers to purchase from multiple people, so if they can find a supplier that can do a lot for them and they’re comfortable with them, they’re more likely to consolidate business with them.”
The importance of having a good brand has been highlighted this past year with IT companies being hit particularly hard across the board as the dancing Australian dollar wreaks havoc with prices.
“It’s been very difficult for customers and they’ve had to make it pretty difficult for us in terms of pricing, so factors such as bids taking longer and prices being under very heavy scrutiny have been happening,” Grant said.
“It’s been tough for everybody. We’ve grown in most parts of our organisation but it has taken its toll so while we’re winning more business, the fact is that our people have had to work harder to achieve that.
“It cycles back to the value of the award because it gives them great compensation for the effort they’ve put in.”
