Printacom - IT in Africa Feature - iWeek

While there are numerous pitfalls to conducting business in Africa, some obvious and others less so, the business fundamentals still remain the same: sell the right product, at the right price, to satisfy a specific need, and back it up with sound support and service.

“Many brands have been burnt in Africa because they have seen it as a dumping ground for dead stock rather than as an opportunity to grow their customer base,” comments Printacom managing director Neil Rom. “The business basics of identifying your market and its needs, pricing correctly and establishing long-term relationships apply as much in the rest of the continent as they do here.”

As Printacom is a relative newcomer to conducting business outside of South Africa, it has set its sights on a steady, systematic entry into these new territories. This strategy is being driven in tandem with its preferred African distribution partner, Tarsus Africa, which has the strength and experience to give Printacom's brands the impetus needed to be sustainable.

“You can't sell in Africa if you're not in Africa,” says Rom. “The reason we're partnering with Tarsus Africa is because they already have people on the ground who have the sales and local knowledge, they speak the local languages and have an ear to the ground. Our move also makes sense because our customers are doing business in Africa and need to partner with us and implement our solutions in the countries where they do business, regardless of borders.

“The practise of doing seagull selling - flying in and flying out - doesn't work, so we are systematically going to all these countries with Tarsus Africa, and scouting the operations and people they are currently selling to.”

Rom says Tarsus Africa ships stock into a number of African countries every day. With pre-booked space on flights and haulage companies clearly indicating an appetite for well-supported technology products, resellers' biggest gripe, however, is the limited access to a wider range of products.

“They are looking for an alternative because the competition is so tough there is no margin in single-brand strategies anymore. Also, certain brands are oversold in Africa - often all you can get is one make in certain product categories.”

The issue of back-up service and support is another area of the channel that Rom says is ignored at one's peril.

“The one recurring complaint we hear is that products generally have to come back into South Africa to get repaired and then sent back out again. So, in our visits to identify the partners we would like to appoint, we make sure they have the technical infrastructure, support and sales staff to ensure the correct level of service to the end customer,” says Rom.

Where needed, Printacom provides the necessary technical training, as well as sales and marketing support via Tarsus Africa.

“This all ties in with our philosophy that they need to replicate the quality of service we have here. Just because this is Africa, doesn't mean you can drop your service levels, and that is where many others have fallen short,” he says.

Rom concludes there is no shortage of opportunities in Africa, although they have to be approached in the correct manner to extract sustainable value and build long-term relationships.

“We are excited about these opportunities, but by the same measure we have adopted a slowly-slowly approach to ensure that our enthusiasm does not override the necessary business fundamentals.”