I’d never have guessed

By Steve Carter







Very recently, I was chatting to a friend who mentioned that he needed to get a sit stand desk for his wife, who works from home permanently. When I told him that we have access to those in our group, he looked at me quizzically and said, ‘I thought you just did office supplies, paper, pens that sort of thing.’ He then told me that his wife will buy any supplies that she needs, including a sit stand desk, and claim the money back from her employer.

This got me thinking about perception and opportunities. I decided to carry out a very unscientific, straw poll type investigation. My plan was to ask one simple question, to a fairly widespread range of people, which included representatives from the following: Banking, drylining company owner, engineer, self-employed plumber, motor industry, student, tattoo studio owner and the owner of a martial arts and kickboxing training school, the latter of which I addressed as sir and thanked profusely.

The question I asked was – what products do you think you can buy from an office supplies dealer? Every single one of them responded with the same word – ‘stationery’, with a few expanding by saying paper, pens, books, pads and Post-it notes. Only one, the tattoo studio owner, mentioned desks, which was more of a question than a statement. After hearing the first persons response, I decided to ask each a second question.

What do you think you can buy from a business supplies and services dealer. Immediately the responses changed with a far wider range of product mentions which I will sum up. The tattoo studio owner said, ‘I guess they offer the whole package, furniture, cleaning products, tea, coffee, computer products.’ The young lady from the motor industry said, ‘Ah, you have now widened the scope, so POS, Janitorial, catering, furniture and pretty much anything that you can use in business, rather than just an office.’

When you think that a lot of the people that I spoke with also use or provide workwear to their teams, it has to be a perception thing and this is where we need to really make people aware of what our full offering is, if we don’t make it obvious, they won’t know. As for the sit stand desk, where are homeworkers buying these from? There is an opportunity to tap in to, so why not tap away.

If you’d like to know more about how you can become part of the wider Advantia team then please do contact us today for a friendly chat.