No-Nonsense Sells

When we have to cut through all the hype and exaggerated buzz of the fast-moving technology market, we always return to the source: the solution provider who recommends products and services and then pieces them together into solutions for small, midsize and large businesses.

STEVEN BURKE Can be reached at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at sburke@cmp.com.

One of our local heroes, Ted Hunter, president of Brunswick, Maine-based Downtime, always applies a common-sense, cut-through-the-bull philosophy to the solutions that he builds, which has won him a loyal following among customers and vendors. Hunter's business savvy, yielding a no-nonsense return on investment for his customers, has allowed him to build a $2 million 10-year-old business that employs 15 people.

Hunter makes 50 percent of his sales from products (PCs, servers, routers, switches, general productivity software and specialized software) and 50 percent from the labor and services of his highly skilled technical talent. Now here is the interesting part of this picture: Hunter still makes more than 20 points of profit on the Premio (www.premiopc.com) servers that he has been recommending and selling for 10 years. And he makes the same 20-plus points on software that he brings to the table, such as the asset management software from Percuity (www.percuity.com).

Let me repeat. Hunter makes 20 percent plus on these products and services. The reason Hunter can get that profit is because when all is said and done, he is bundling hardware and software that he buys from his two primary distributors,Ingram Micro (www.ingrammicro.com) and Tech Data (www.techdata.com),and bundling them into solutions. "I not only sell the product, I install it and maintain it," Hunter says. "I present it as part of a quality solution that I am staking my reputation on. I am selling myself. The server comes with me and my company."

Why this Solution Provider 101 lesson? To drive home the point that it is the wide range of products and services that Hunter pieces together into solutions that has allowed him to flourish for 10 years. Those products and services may have changed over time, but his business model of bringing no-nonsense solutions to local customers has never shifted or wavered for one single minute in this hyperkinetic technology market. Bottom line: When it comes to products and services, people like Ted Hunter are where the rubber meets the road.

The Network is the Content. I can be reached at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at sburke@cmp.com.