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| Martin Brodigan, president and CEO of Ricoh Canada |
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At one time, Ricoh Canada sold its products to purchasing managers or strategic planners, whose decisions hinged mostly, if not solely, on cost and the bottom line. But as offices grow increasingly network-oriented, the purchasing of equipment has been delegated to chief information officers or chief technical officers, who have a broader technical background.
This development has thrust Ricoh Canada, traditionally a leader in printers and copiers, into a much more competitive but financially rewarding business landscape. But, the Japan-based company is not shrinking from the challenge.
‘‘This has led to one of the transitions for us — to no longer be a traditional copier company. Ricoh now has a full range of multifunction printers that integrate many different devices. We’ve since found ourselves in new markets with new competitors, and we’ve since had to relearn how to sell our products,’’ explains Ricoh Canada President and CEO Martin Brodigan.
During the past five years, the company has grown tremendously, almost doubling its revenue, partly due to the flexibility it has shown in meeting market demands.
‘‘If you look at the Ricoh organization in Canada now as opposed to four years ago, probably 10 percent of the staff have titles that we’ve never had before. Today, we have ‘software engineers,’ ‘systems engineers’ and ‘integration specialists.’ It is much more of a team effort to get a sale. As for after-sales service, when a client buys a Ricoh product, they get access to a team of technology specialists,’’ Brodigan says.
‘‘We’ve had such success in recent years because we’ve not only been able to show how great our hardware is but we can actually show our clients how to integrate the Ricoh products into the work flow. We maintain committed to this mission and at times, even fly engineers in from Japan to go on-site and ensure that our interface can be combined with our clients’ systems,’’ he adds.
For Brodigan, customer service is the way to sustain Ricoh’s growth in Canada now that it is capable of meeting the evolving demands of the workplace.
‘‘We are about helping to build a sustainable company, not a company that’s in it for short-term success. Our mission is to enable businesses to impact their bottom line through the use of our models and solutions. Ricoh Canada has the breadth of resources to deliver on our mission,’’ he says.
www.ricoh.ca |