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29th June 2012
Our Option One programme one year on opening doors closing sales
What a difference a year makes.
Just over 12 months ago now, we took the decision to re-launch
our web trading platform, Syscap Online, as part of a major upgrade
to our 'Option One' partnership scheme.
A year later and we have seen a 56% jump in new partner
registrations, alongside a jump in the number of business
transactions driven through our website.
In brief, our Option One partner programme is the ultimate
finance sales tool for IT resellers. It offers funding options,
sales support and a rewards scheme to our reseller partners.
Partners of the scheme also benefit from access to our unique
online finance portal, Syscap Online, where they can obtain
real-time, risk based finance quotes and produce the actual
documentation quickly and easily wherever they are.
The upgrade to Option One marked a critical advancement for us
and has tied in well with the rapidly growing popularity of vendor
financing. For example, recent figures from the FLA revealed a 16%
year on year increase in the volume of asset finance agreements
arranged through the channel, up from £4.8 billion to £5.5 billion
in the year to March 2012.
For funding requests specifically for ICT equipment, an 18% rise
was recorded, with leasing agreements signed in the three months to
March 2-12 up to £283 million, from £239 million over the same
period last year.
Feedback we have received so far says the increased popularity
of the scheme was due, in large part, to the unrivalled speed at
which resellers can offer their customers a quote through our new
'decision in principle' tool.
This tool allows resellers to see in seconds the likelihood that
their customer will qualify for finance for a given purchase,
compared to the days it could take to get a quote from other
finance providers - why risk the customer cooling off while you
wait for a quote?
But why has this feature been so popular with resellers? Our
latest re-seller survey offers some insight:
- 56% of IT vendors say that the provision of finance is now core
to their sales offering
- 33% of IT vendors say they now offer finance whenever their
potential customer raises an objection over the cost or
affordability
I said at the time that it was a tool that could revolutionise
the role of an IT sales person and all indications so far suggest
that it seems to have certainly gone some way in helping resellers
close more sales and drive new business.
Our aim is to establish and maintain a thriving finance-aware
partner community that benefits supplier and customers alike. We
want to make sure that we offer partners all the support necessary
at every step of the sales process.
Twelve months ago we set out to meet the increased appetite of
smaller and medium sized IT vendors, by helping them to enlarge
their capacity to resell IT products and services. We hope the
programme will continue to go from strength to strength.
Philip White
Chief Executive