Admitting that Dicker Data “got lucky” in Australia following Ingram Micro’s well-documented SAP fiasco, Dicker accepts that such circumstances allowed the distributor to make serious inroads into the market which their channel rival has so far struggled to claw back.
“We’re operating in a numbers game, if you hit the numbers you’ll get the result over time but if you don’t then you’ll be screwed, it’s that simple,” he adds.
“The way I see it is our revenue is not too far behind Ingram Micro in the commercial space so I don’t see why we can’t replicate that here.”
In pursuing HP, Dicker naturally faces stiff competition from current distributors Ingram Micro and Exeed in New Zealand, but such is the nature of the channel veteran, he accepts that it won’t be easy.
“More vendors equates to more revenue and we are actively trying to bring across existing vendor relationships from Australia to New Zealand, and likewise, vice-versa,” he says.
“But even with Toshiba, we’re the company’s biggest customer in Australia and their longest standing partner but despite all this it still took a year to get the New Zealand deal over the line.
“And let’s not forget, they were the ones who threw the balls up in the air so yeah, you have to be patient.”
New Zealand
For Dicker the process in New Zealand will be no different to Australia; distribution is a master and slave relationship, and “we are the slaves.”
“It has worked like that since 1978 and I figured that out pretty early on when I first started in this game,” he says. “They come to us and want things done and we have to provide.
“We have to be better than the other guys and considering they are foreign multinationals in the New Zealand market, we have to respond and stay competitive.”
More vendors undoubtedly brings the need for more resellers, with Presnall sending a clear message to the channel that if “anyone wants to transact any of our vendor lineup then we want to do business with you and give you a great experience.”
Requiring no specific criteria or expertise, if Dicker Data are representing a brand in New Zealand, then under the leadership of Presnall they will be selling to everyone that sells that brand.
“It’s not rocket science,” Presnall adds. “Our role in New Zealand as a distributor is to make our number while keeping our vendors, staff and customers happy. Those are the basic requirements of any business.
“We’ve been very fortunate to have had the freedom to execute on this and do what we believe is the right thing for the business in New Zealand.
“The Dicker Data guys have built up a lot of IP and knowledge over the years and it is a great opportunity for us to leverage that where possible. We are backed with heaps of resource so for New Zealand, everything is upside following this deal.
“Dicker Data is a relatively flat organisation so everything is only a phone call away, we don’t have to jump through hoops to get anything done and given the whole industry is undergoing huge change at the moment, being agile gives us a massive advantage.”
Presnall, held in the highest regard by his new Australian colleagues, believes the key for Dicker Data moving forward in New Zealand is to maintain a level of flexibility that allows the company to “change before you need to change” while continuing to reinvent itself amidst great change in the Kiwi channel market.
“We’ve got to stay on top of our game,” he adds. “The same is not enough because the competition will leap frog us which is why we play to our strengths.
