Industry Viewpoint - Aping the evolution of a sound business

As the technological revolution continues its progress at an ever-increasing rate, how do companies keep up? What is needed to survive in this fast moving industry? The same standards that made businesses succeed 250 years ago still apply at the end of this century. But of course, there are very few companies out there today that can demonstrate this in practical terms. Total professionalism, constant innovation and world-class service are as relevant today as they were then. Johnsons Photopia was founded one year before Sotheby's in 1743. It has been around longer than the US. The company started out as a silver merchant. In 1839, it began manufacturing chemical salts of silver and gold required for the photographic process which had just been invented by Fox-Talbot - the negative-positive photographic process that people know about today. Johnsons began its long association with photography from its invention through to digital photography. Today, it is associated with the distribution and back-up support for such hi-tech brands as Ricoh and Microtek, a far cry from its role two-and-a-half centuries ago. I believe Johnsons has succeeded because it never lost track of core values that were as important in the middle of the 18th century as they are at the start of the 21st. As technology advances, it is more crucial than ever to offer excellent customer care and continue to evolve with the industry. With the latest technological developments, what is needed is more old-fashioned service than ever for customers. The entire sales process - from the customer choosing to buy, to the after-sales stage - should be given a personal touch. This means offering real value-add, and I do not just mean a good price. To add value means to offer peace of mind, for example, a no-quibble agreement for returning products, and a human voice, not just voice-mail on a technical support line. I believe we should analyse the relationship in the channel too. What is the role of the distributor? What does the distributor do for customers? They should get in front of the customer, find out what the customer requires and offer an overall package for the specific requirement. How can a distributor truly help the reseller if it is just handling sales on the phone? And how can multi-distribution compete with the exclusive distributor? Without a dedicated focus on the product , a distributor cannot do that. Johnsons has, in the past 10 years, gone from strength to strength - with 93 per cent growth last year, a fact that was achieved by experienced staff and innovative products, as well as a customer-focused sales and marketing policy. Johnsons has been Ricoh's exclusive UK distributor for 18 years and the vendor's number one distributor in Europe. It is this type of co-operation, experience and hard work that has enabled Johnsons to aim for similar relationships with resellers in the PC/Mac channel. In the words of Darwin: "It is not the strongest species that survives, nor the most intelligent , but the one that is most responsive to change."