Channel Post speaks with Shadi Bakhour, B2B Business Unit Director at Canon Middle East about the expansion of its partner programme in Saudi Arabia and how this will impact Canon’s partner community in the Kingdom.
Canon Middle East recently announced the expansion of its partner programme in Saudi Arabia. What was the reason behind this decision and how has it been received by your partner community in the Kingdom?
The expansion of our partner programme and eServices in Saudi Arabia demonstrates our commitment to facilitating innovation, driving business growth and delivering success for our partners and customers, and has been well received by our partner community. With this expansion, we aim to ensure continued growth in the Canon Large Format Printer (LFP) business through strategic partnerships with 2nd tier resellers in the market and by introducing a structured LFP channel programme tailored specifically to the Kingdom’s market requirements.
Can you elaborate on the new structure and how it will benefit your partner community?
Canon has an increased focus on growing its indirect sales through partners and resellers registering to our channel programme. With the new structure, we support them in unlocking additional value and enhancing competencies and business benefits. The unique eService programme, a first from Canon in the Middle East, offers partners the opportunity and flexibility to sell, lease, or rent a large-format printer to an end-user, and introduces the concept of ‘Printer-as-a-Service’ to the Kingdom. By working in partnership with our partners, our channel program brings together the skills and innovation required to develop the power of Canon’s brand, products, solutions and services to ultimately deliver mutual success.
Why should partners be excited about this new programme? How will this programme help partners grow their business and margins?
This new program introduces our partners to a wide range of LFP products covering every market segment, in addition to competitive price positioning. The online partner locator tool on the Canon website directs prospective customers in every region to the relevant partners. We recognize that our channel partners are invaluable to Canon’s success as they represent our brand in-market in the Kingdom. Keeping this in mind, we ensure to build sustaining relationships and drive sales by providing robust channel support, incentives and marketing programmes.
What kind of marketing and technical support does this expanded partner programme offer?
Canon continually strives to make it easier for our partners to do business with us and hence is committed to supporting them at every stage of the journey from planning to after-sales support. In order for our resellers to maximize their visibility in the market, we provide them with Canon branding in their showrooms and other required marketing collaterals as well as the opportunity to participate at events. Program benefits also include support with additional insight on verticals and campaign materials for our partners to target different decision makers accurately.
What can partners expect from you going forward?
With the widest portfolio of printers in the industry and our unique heritage in imaging technology, we look forward to helping businesses in the Kingdom unleash the power of print and realize their full potential through our trusted ecosystem of partners. Through continual education and financial support, we will continue to show an ongoing commitment to drive and support our resellers in their development strategies.
