CRN Interview: Stewart Krentzman, Oki Data America

Editor/NEWS Steven Burke and Senior Editor Edward F. Moltzen met recently with Stewart Krentzman, CEO of Oki Data America, A maker of printers, copiers and other technology, WHO SPOKE about the company's business and channel strategies. Here are excerpts from that interview:

CRN: Do you have anything big planned in terms of programs for next year?

KRENTZMAN: We're going to be hiring a bunch of people next year. I sent a letter out when I was COO to the channel,in the middle of the channel,assuring them that we were bringing on more and more salespeople to put our face in front of end users more and more. %85

We've created a bunch of sales guys to go out, make the end-user contact, win the business and then pull it through the channel. That's why I sent the letter out, because I don't want any confusion because of a lot

of stuff our competitors have done. We're not selling direct. We're going in front of end users and telling our story, and if we are fortunate enough to win the business, we direct it back to the channel.

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CRN: Do you have any metrics, or measurements, on how lead generation has been going in terms of incremental business or how many deals you've landed?

KRENTZMAN: Overall our business is up 14 percent year over year in the U.S. %85 As of Sept. 30, our business was up 14 percent in the first half. A lot of that has to do with the fact that we have created a lead-generation program. We give our resellers the ability to customize the programs. We've given them a menu of options to choose from, from a lead-generation perspective. We will do direct mail for [them], in a market, through our fulfillment group and allow them to put [their] name and address and phone number on it so the CIO can contact the solution provider in that market. They've got a series of options.

CRN: How does your background outside of IT influence your thinking on the channel?

KRENTZMAN: I truly appreciate the fact that you need a bunch of resellers out there selling your product because it's impossible for a manufacturer to do that. I used to run Lipton's tea business for Unilever. And to think that I was going to go door to door selling Lipton tea bags when I had grocery stores doing it for me was ridiculous. So I appreciate the channel, and I understand it's important.

Part of my renewed emphasis on the channel, and recommitment to the channel, is based on my appreciation for what the channel is capable of doing for the company. They've got to add value, and they do.

I think we're in really good shape to have a happy marriage with a bunch of these guys.

CRN: What do you think of Oki Data's competitive position?

KRENTZMAN: Our color [printer] business,we've moved from no share in the color market two years ago and we just got the IDC numbers. %85 We're at a 13 percent market share now in units. No. 1 is [Hewlett-Packard], of course. No. 2 is Minolta QMS. We are now No. 3 in the third quarter [in the] U.S. [market]. So we've come from nowhere and resellers have gotten us there. We didn't do this ourselves.

CRN: Could you compare the benefits that Oki Data provides to its VARs through its programs vs. what HP or Minolta offers its VARs?

KRENTZMAN: On average, our margins are probably 30 percent higher than our competitors on a per-unit basis. %85 Our margins are somewhere between 12 [percent] and 15 percent right now for a reseller. In large deals, we try and protect the reseller's margin, with a revenue stream coming out of consumables.

CRN: So you believe you're in good shape in regard to where you stand in relation to your competitors?

KRENTZMAN: I really respect my competition, but I am more concerned with my customers and that my resellers need to be successful. Regardless of what they're doing, we need to make sure our valued proposition is our resellers, and our products to the end user are working.