Putting its success down to the quality of service it offers, TET
is keen to expand and position itself as a sole supplier to SMEs.
Five years ago, the managing director of City-based reseller Trans
European Technology (TET) had a decision to make - either carry on
rolling out technology to its customer base or take a strategic
shift and focus on services.
To remain to all intents and purposes a box shifter would have been
easy but would have provided only limited growth, whereas to move
into value-added services would have been a harder slog but would
give the group a chance to move beyond the point it was already at,
i.e. unable to expand any further.
In early 2002, with a headcount of around 60, a turnover pushing
£15m, one regional office and another on the horizon, the decision
Dave Joyce arrived at has clearly paid off. With services now
making up 30 per cent of its overall revenues and a 50/50 split
between sales and technical staff, the company believes it is
headed in the right direction.
TET projects and quality manager Peter Squire (above right), who
joined Joyce and the group three years ago from one of its key
customers, says the strategic decision to add services to its
portfolio was designed to turn the group into a supplier customers
could use to provide a complete IT package.
Bettering its rivals
One of the key achievements laid
out by Squire is something he also sees as one of TET's main
advantages over the competition - its independent ISO 9000 quality
assurance standard. "The main reason for achieving ISO 9000 was to
put a quality structure into the company. It's a statement to our
customers that we can provide a consistent level of service and
means we have to constantly look at our working methods as the
company grows, particularly as we diverge into consultancy
services," he says.
Squire adds the accreditation - over and above the usual vendor
plaques on the wall - sends a strong signal to its customer base,
which focuses on the top end of the SME market and vertical sectors
and includes four or five large City law firms. It also means the
reseller must have its own strict quality control standards in
place, so regular customer surveys are carried out to check it is
hitting targets.
"Over the past year, we have been carrying out telephone-based
customer satisfaction surveys, covering how accounts are run,
including account management, use of our help desk, efficiency in
processing orders and so on. It is a way of being proactive and it
keeps us focused," he says.
TET sales manager and Computacenter veteran Paul Mitchell (above
left) claims the company has been picking up business that larger
City players - including his previous employer - let fall through
the net because of their size: "Computacenter and the like have a
target market and a cut-off point. The business that doesn't fall
into those companies' target markets - that is high end for us - is
our sort of customer and there's a lot of business there."
Mitchell and Squire agree TET has been successful in attracting
customers at the top end of the SME market because it can provide
the flexibility and responsiveness that larger players would simply
be unable or unwilling to match.
Mitchell claims the difference between an operation the size of TET
and one further up the food chain is based around quality of
service. "When customers with around 250 employees want kit, they
need it straight away because it is critical to their business.
They need a quick reaction and I think some of the larger companies
would struggle to help them," he says.
TET's services revolve around the IT lifecycle and cover the usual
areas of procurement, maintenance, training, support and
consultancy, but Mitchell wants customers in the SME space to look
at the company as a sole supplier. "We supply everything from
procurement to maintenance and onsite support. We make an effort to
understand customers' business to see exactly what they need and
help them define their IT requirements," he says.
Good relations
In terms of relationships with other
levels of the industry, Mitchell names Computer 2000 and ETC as
suppliers he's happy to do business with and claims TET is a rare
beast in that it values loyalty in supplier relationships.
But he adds the company is not adverse to putting distributors
through their paces to make sure it's getting the kind of service
it prides itself on.
"We survey our suppliers to find out about things such as delivery
times, stock availability and so on, so we can pass that service on
to our own customers. It's not about screwing them on price, it's
about a mutually beneficial relationship," Mitchell says.
Squire claims the company expects service and mutual respect to
work both ways, but admits relationships have broken down on
occasions because of a vendor or partner trying to poach accounts
for themselves - an ever-present danger for resellers which is all
too common. "We've been skinned a couple of times in the past.
Sometimes, we sub-contract something like cabling and find the
supplier has been quoting on routers and other kit, so we have to
make it clear that's not how we work. It's still an issue and it's
bound to continue to be one as the market gets tougher," he says.
In terms of the future, TET has its eyes set on further services
growth and more comprehensive national coverage. The group has a
satellite office in Kent and plans to open another one soon to
service customers in the Thames Valley area. "If you're just
supplying kit, you can do that from anywhere in the country, but as
we try and move towards more managed services we need national
coverage," Mitchell says.
He adds the company plans to "aggressively expand" and claims that
although the market is tight at the moment, new business for the
right sort of company offering the right sort of service is never
far away. "I know it's a cliché, but to be honest there is so much
business out there," he says.