New and existing customers in production environments such as copy shops, commercial printers and repro houses will now only deal with resellers that have been awarded a Design Production Specialist certification by HP, signaling their specialist training in the Designjet brand including hardware repair and service support.
Meanwhile HP resellers outside of the selected Design Production Specialists will now be certified as Design Specialists and will deal with customers in ‘print-for-use’ environments such as architects, engineering companies, construction, photo studios, graphic designers and retail.
“We want to ensure that our resellers are the best in the industry for their customers, that they are properly qualified, that they invest in their businesses and staff and likewise that we are committed to investing in them to develop their expertise,” said vice president and general manager of HP Large Format Solutions, Thomas Valjak.
“We want to have the reseller who really has the customer relationship in place to service them end-to-end, from consulting to delivery, to installation, migration, break-fix servicing and so on.
“It’s about getting the right resellers with the right qualifications, to the right customers.”
The two new reseller groups replace what were previously collectively called Designjet Value Specialists.
Five companies have been awarded Design Production Specialist status from the existing UK network including CWE Solutions, Perfect Colours, Graphic Dealers, Standing Stone and Stanford Marsh, with 160 in total being awarded the certification across the EMEA region.
Criteria to become Designjet Production Specialists include having two certified specialists in products and solution knowledge, two hardware service engineers, an operational demo facility and to have a solid track record in sales volumes of HP Designjet products.
Valjak said that HP was currently working with all selected Design Production Specialists to put them through technical training and exams on the product and service portfolio by the end of January.
The shake-up follows a 12-month assessment of its reseller network and its effectiveness at bringing products to market, consultation processes, product delivery and servicing.
Phil Oakley, Designjet country manager for HP UK and Ireland, said: "Our objective is to raise the customer experience level in a print production environment - that's our number one focus.
"The five Designjet Production Specialists we have selected for the UK were chosen because of the assets they have in their businesses, their experience, commitment and their historical sales in key markets."
"We are already known for our standards and reliability of our products here at HP but we are not resting on our laurels. We want to take that to a whole new level."
