One of the beauties of doing business with FP Mailing Solutions (Francotyp-Postalia) is that there’s no guesswork when deciding whether its line of postage meters and other equipment (folders inserters, etc.) that serves the mailing community is a good fit for a given dealer, courtesy of the mailing quota index. This tells the manufacturer how many mailing machines are located in a ZIP code, which provides the dealers insight into what their markets can bear and whether it will provide a legitimate ROI. It also insulates FP Mailing from oversaturating a market with excessive resellers.

Another feather in the OEMs’ cap is that the dealer network represents a lion’s share of the brand’s resellers. It will work with newly signed dealer partners to develop a business strategy and go-to-market approach, according to Hannon, and determine how much knowledge the reseller has with mailing equipment to craft a proper training regimen.

FP Mailing is always a call away with subject matter experts. While dealers can manage the vast majority of technical issues, the OEM’s regional assistance teams come in handy with questions about specific rates and presorting. With other mailing products the dealer may not be comfortable addressing, FP can provide installation and customer training (alongside the dealers, if they wish).

Still, even with some more esoteric equipment, Hannon estimates that 80% of dealers sell the full FP Mailing catalog. “A lot of dealers are pushing their reps to be more solutions oriented—they want to get as many products into the end-user as possible to be that full-service shop,” he said. “Some will stick to just the meters and folder inserters, but eventually most will come around to selling it all. They kind of have to.”

Other considerations dealers weigh include whether a dedicated or regular MFP rep is needed (it works both ways, so it largely depends on the dealer’s setup). As Hannon works with dealers on a business plan, it’s vital to ensure mailing suits their processes rather than forcing changes. The compensation structure for mailing gear is similar to printers, while the up-front investment is comparatively minor; Hannon called it a “small opening order.”

“If a dealer has a solid installed base and they’ve never sold mailing equipment, their techs still have visibility into what equipment clients have,” Hannon said. “That provides the groundwork for dealers to get accustomed to selling to existing customers. But also, a lot of dealers use mailing equipment to get in the [prospect’s] door because it’s a differentiator, and it’s a smaller ticket item. So it works for existing and net-new clients.”

FP is one of the leading postage meter, folder inserter, address management and mail stream solutions providers offering a wide range of mail center products and services designed to create seamless mailing solutions. For more information on how we can help streamline your business, visit www.fp-usa.com or request a quote today by filling out the form below.