Businesses Should Understand That There is No “One-Size-Fits-All”

Olaf Lorenz, the General Manager for International Marketing Division at Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH speaks to ME Printer about how companies can withstand the ups and downs on the market.

Olaf Lorenz is General Manager for the entire International Marketing Division of Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH, which has its headquarters in Langenhagen, Hannover, Germany. Olaf’s role has evolved from responsibility for an entire product lifecycle – from product planning to European launch through to the end of the product’s life – to being at the heart of business transformation in his role on the European management board. With a 140-year history, innovation has been key to Konica Minolta’s success where, in Europe, we have 200,000 customers in 51 countries, 9,900 employees and revenues of €2.37 billion.

The market for printing, is a maturing one – yet, this does not make it a static one. For Konica Minolta, the opposite is in fact true: New solutions and services are needed that help customers in this market excel at what they do – possibilities and products they can offer their customers.

New technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) are indeed one possibility, besides new varnishing and individualisation solutions. With AR, printing products can be enhanced to offer more than what their physical appearance allows for. They can include animated content, links to further information and much more, via an app – in short, we are offering real ‘print to WEB’ features, that brings a true supplement of the analogue 2D print.

Being a provider that can offer these services helps to hold a strong market position. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are promising technology particularly when it comes to optimising internal processes, helping companies improve the efficiency of their information flows and customer relations.

So surely, new technologies are one important success factor.

Konica Minolta is registering a very positive development, particularly when it comes to its inkjet based printing solutions that bring together highest printing quality, small volumes and high production speeds. Yet, at least as important for Konica Minolta’s success is its customer-centric approach, based on a long-term and trusting relationship with its customers.

Konica Minolta does not just offer its customers a broad product portfolio, but individually identifies their specific needs to provide them with exactly the solutions they need, implements them and ensures they match their specific requirements in the best way possible. This is not limited to printing solutions. With its broad range of solutions and leading position in IT services, Konica Minolta can also support them beyond printing requirements: from IT infrastructure to managed IT services or solutions for intelligent information management or business process optimisation.

While a highly trained, professional sales team is crucial for bringing in new customers, particularly when it comes to creating follow-up contracts and long-lasting relationships, a strong and supportive available service team is also essential, being there for the customers and addressing the challenges they face.

For Konica Minolta the most important tip for businesses to successfully sell in difficult markets is to work on truly understanding there is no such thing as ‘one-size-fits-all’ and their customers’ needs and help them to provide their own customers with new, exciting solutions that set them apart from their competitors – technology is an enabler, customer centricity is the real driver.