Sales & Marketing Management - October 2007 - (Page 20)

AT A GLANCE HEWLETT-PACKARD HEADQUARTERS: 3000 Hanover St. Palo Alto, CA 94304-1185 imaging as ‘the last unaudited expense area’ FOUNDED: 1939 in many large compaNYSE TICKER SYMBOL: HPQ nies, it opened a lot of 2006 NET SALES: $100.5 billion eyes in the C-suite,” NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 156,000 Tuthill says. “People PRODUCT LINES/INDUSTRIES: The Personal Systems Group started thinking of imag(PCs, mobile computing devices ing and printing as a and workstations), the Imaging & Printing Group (printing, printing process that could be supplies, digital photography and managed and improved entertainment), and the Technology Solutions Group (business products upon.” including storage and servers) Suddenly, businesses started focusing less on the cost of printers and more on the wide-ranging printing solutions that HP could create, provide and sell direct or via its extensive partner community, depending on customer choice. “It’s certainly more challenging to address customers’ business problems than it is to simply hand them a list of your products and services to choose from, but it’s also a tremendous opportunity for us,” Tuthill says. “It gives us an opportunity to demonstrate our overall value in a way that we couldn’t before.” One way HP’s Imaging and Printing SMB unit delivers this value proposition is by enabling smaller companies to communicate their capabilities as effectively as their enterprise competitors. The Internet became the first great equalizer more than a decade ago, allowing even the smallest Mom-and-Pop store to portray itself in any way the owners chose. But the cost of high-end printers and related technologies only recently has fallen to the point where smaller companies can afford to look as good in print as they do electronically. “Visual content is always going to have a high impact, so one of our primary responsibilities is to help our customers present themselves, their products and services in a light that reflects their capabilities and who they are as a company,” Tuthill says. “In years past, the best printing and imaging technologies were often priced too high for a smaller company’s budgets, and that created a competitive disadvantage. Today HP can bring color, multifunction printing, and new ways to finance printing—like Smart Printing Services—that deliver excellent functionality and easier ways to access great technology, at a more affordable price point. “Many companies focus a lot of their time and PHONE: 650-857-1501 20 SALES &MARKETING MANAGEMENT OCTOBER 2007 attention on the Web, as well they should. But just like the Internet has done, today’s printing and imaging technologies allow even the smallest companies to portray themselves in the best light possible in print. There’s no question that size provides certain advantages in the marketplace, but bigger isn’t necessarily better.” Tuthill recalls one small customer whose business was designing sports arenas. “They had only three employees, and it was a big year for them if they got two requests for proposals,” he says. “With so much riding on their ability to communicate the company’s value and capabilities, clarity and quality were every bit as important to them as they are to a billion-dollar, multinational corporation with thousands of employees.” HEWLETT-PACKARD, AT YOUR SERVICE HP has made a strong effort to better understand the way customers relate to its brand, how they make purchasing decisions for products and solutions, how they want to be supported, and where they want to capture more information. “For GenX, Gen-Y and Millennial buyers of IT—especially printing—it is crucial that we know where we need to be, both in print and online,” Tuthill says. As large as HP is, with revenues totaling nearly $101 billion in 2007, the company relies heavily on selling with value-added resellers and solution provider partners. “The vast majority of the face-toface interaction with customers happens through our channel partners, and it’s been that way since Day One,” Tuthill says. “From a product perspective, it’s definitely up to us to get the HP brand out in front of customers so they know what to expect and that we are there to stand behind our products. But a lot of the business consulting and problem solving is handled by our reseller partners, and that’s the way it should be. They are the ones who help create demand by talking to people about their business problems and helping them find the best solutions, from printer to printing.” However, when customers do come directly to HP via its Web site, the company’s attention to detail and technological excellence really come to the forefront. The company has retooled and upgraded its support capabilities, including the implementation of a chat technology that enables HP representatives to proacwww.salesandmarketingmanagement.com http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sales & Marketing Management - October 2007

Sales & Marketing Management - October 2007 Contents Editor’s Letter Management Strategies Why Prospecting Gets No Respect Sales Strategy: Spotlight your Services Marketing: A Social Intelligence Primer Management: Steer your Team to Success Motivation/Incentives: The No-Pain Way to Gain Training: Looking for Yesterday’s Learning or Tomorrow’s? Technology: Get Trade Show Satisfaction with the Video Massage Focusing on SMB Solutions The Best Sales Force The Hottest Job Industries Overseas Aggravation Gadgets & Gear: Pen and Ink as an Art Form Books that Improve Strategic Thinking, People Skills and Sales One Foot Out the Door Work/Life: Calling in the Fitness Cavalry. Take-Aways: Bite-size Strategies to Help You Sell More, Market Smarter and Manage Better

Sales & Marketing Management - October 2007

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