In 2022 Exertis AV unveiled a new AV leadership team to drive growth in a stagnant distribution market. Here, the team shares how it stripped back to basics to rebuild a strategy prioritising both profit and purpose and is now reaping the benefits.
Exertis AV’s evolution was driven by its reimagination as a distributor that focused on delivering quality not quantity, according to Chief Sales and Commercial Officer Jamie Brothwell. This was informed by ongoing conversations with its resellers and vendors regarding their needs for enhanced support.
“This required going back to basics,” she said. “We looked at our vendor portfolio and rationalised it to have two or three key vendors in each space. This process showed that many of the smaller brands we had were providing a distraction to sales and enabled us to focus on what Exertis AV can bring to customers that ensure a point of difference.”
Exertis AV’s streamlined portfolio enables it to put more resources behind its vendors with specialist teams. For example, when the distributor onboarded Epson Business Projectors, it invested in product experts who joined as Projection Business Managers.
Alistair Coyne, Commercial Director at Exertis AV said: “With a specialist team in place with Product Managers and Product Specialists, we have dedicated people behind brands or technologies which adds an extra layer of value to our customers.”
Its quality-over-quantity approach also sees Exertis AV work closely in partnership with vendors to ensure the stock profile is correct. Alongside investments in its warehouse facilities, this has enabled the company to triple its stock profile and offer a 99.4% next-day shipment rate.
This makes it easier to maintain dialogue with customers around their pipeline. Brothwell added: “We understand that this is a project business so need to hold a longer stock cycle and ensure customers receive exactly what they need.”
Mark Sanderson, Head of Strategic Marketing at Exertis AV highlights how this manifests with its key strategic relationship with Microsoft. “We meet very regularly to discuss market patterns and seasonal trends,” he said. “We can utilise this information to help our customers in shaping their strategy.”
Exertis AV has also invested over £100,000 in demonstration equipment and is currently fitting out a demonstration suite in Burnley. It has invested heavily in marketing and now has an AV marketing team to add value by bringing to life assets for customers.
Jon Grundy, Head of AV Solutions, highlighted that this approach has been driven by customer needs. “Our evolution focused on becoming an extension of our partner’s businesses so we could take away some of their pain points and give them additional capacity,” he said.
”Whether it is looking at our customer base or our vendor base, we want to be the true value add that sits in the middle” The second critical pillar of Exertis AV’s evolution has been ensuring that the company puts purpose at the forefront of activity, both through its moral duty and to add value for its customers.
“On this front, the company is almost unrecognisable from the organisation I joined 10 years ago,” said Brothwell. “I have had the honour of watching the company grow and evolve from the inside, but you can also see it from the outside looking in. “Today D&I and sustainability are two of the first things I end up talking to customers about because they have become so relevant to buying decisions and partnerships due to tendering rules.”
Exertis AV has developed several schemes around culture including employee resource groups and events that boost education for staff around diversity and inclusion. This included bringing in external speakers during Pride Month and Black History Month to ensure that all staff feel belonged.
“We are focused on staff bringing their ‘whole self’ to work and not worrying about being discriminated,” added Brothwell.
With distribution playing such a central role in the supply chain, Exertis AV has also prioritised its sustainability play. The company has a dedicated team of eight within the business and is working externally with customers and partners to help educate and share best practices.
Brothwell added: “It is important that we have an open policy to share what we are doing but also develop these strategies alongside our customers and vendors.”
Exertis AV is also working toward ISO 14001. It has renewable energy resources within all its sites, LED lights within its warehouses and an EV fleet.
“As much as operation changes, this all helps to add value to our clients,” adds Brothwell.
Sanderson For more information go to: www.exertis.co.uk