Starleaton’s role as the sole EFI channel partner in Australia is designed to complement EFI’s new direct go-to-market strategy in the region.
According to BEN Eaton, CEO Starleaton, the new alignment will allow Starleaton to leverage its nationwide network of support and logistics to deliver sales and service rewards for EFI’s customers. The expanding graphic arts and signage supplier has a significant presence in both Australia and New Zealand as well as many years experience selling EFI Fiery digital front ends. It also has a thriving business delivering flatbed inkjets to the broader signage industry. Operating out of eight locations coast to coast, Starleaton is well positioned to deliver the high quality technical expertise, logistics, sales and service required by EFI product buyers.
EFI’s new direct to market strategy is a welcome development in promoting the brand, says Eaton. “I was more than keen to work with EFI on its new go-to-market strategy and am a supporter of EFI having a direct presence. The new hybrid model makes the most of both companies’ unique value propositions in order to achieve maximum market share.
‘”I spoke with Frank Mallozzi, EFI Head of Revenue, when he was here last month and outlined to him the continued investment we have been making in our sales and service team through the region. We’re expanding our team in almost every location. It’s a win-win situation for both company’s and for our customers. He could see it made sense,” said Eaton.
The two-stream customer engagement strategy for Australia with Starleaton replicates EFI go-to-market strategies elsewhere. “My main concern to make sure we’re serving customers here,” said Mallozzi. “We have a direct presence for sales and service in many markets similar to Australia throughout the world and operate in tandem with partners there as well.”
For Starleaton the advantages of being able to maintain EFI spare parts and consumables on the ground close to customers, presents a compelling case for cooperation. The company is expanding its taskforce of wide-format engineers and service personnel as it moves further into the hardware market. It already operates one of the most diverse and efficient substrate supply businesses in the sector.
Eaton maintains Starleaton is the optimum channel partner for a company such as EFI looking to expand its market share in the fiercely competitive wide format signage and display sector. “We’ve got close relations with the industry, servicing customers for many years. Our people know the challenges faced by printers and signage companies and we’re ideally situated to be able to quickly solve problems and make good any shortages,” he said.
The relationship between the two is set to deepen further as Eaton is keen to further engage with EFI’s greater software offering. It’s an area where he believes Starleaton is again uniquely placed to achieve good results. Working in cooperation with EFI’s Daniel Aloi, who is leading the direct to market charge, he believes that together they’ll be able to get in front of the widest range of customers.
“The hybrid model provides us with the backup of EFI when we need it and vice versa. We’ve many years of experience working with Fiery RIPs. MIS and work flow software is a natural fit for us,” said Eaton. “I’m excited.”
“We’ve known EFI products for many years, our service engineers have been to the factory for training and there’s close cooperation between the two of us. It’s a great result for EFI, Starleaton and most importantly our customers.”