Alan Austin, print industry veteran of more than 20 years and former sales and marketing director at Ricoh SA, has left the company after a nine-year tenure.
Austin leaves to pursue a consulting role, kicking off in February, 2013, for small-to-medium businesses in related fields and within the print industry that draws on his experience in building and growing bureaux print environments, establishing sales processes, growing revenue streams, and developing sales teams.
I have achieved what I originally set out to at Ricoh SA, then Gestener, back in 2003, said Austin. The revenue stream has grown exponentially, year-on-year, in the past nine years and that was on the back of new systems, processes, and redefined roles for the sales people at Ricoh SA. The entire process is well defined and mature and Ricoh SA is exceptionally well positioned to capitalise on the evolving market demands it is now servicing. My strengths lie in building these environments, establishing the processes, and putting the right people in place so the time has come for me to hand over the reins.
Austin will initially consult to Ingwe Output Management Services, which offers a complete range of bureau print services, lithographic print and variable data printing (VDP) products and services. Ingwe belongs to Austins wife, Fiona Austin. He will principally be tasked with growing her business in the small to medium market where he can develop value-added services around the current laser printing, lithographic printing, VDP, mailing and inserting, scanning, archiving, statement printing, and multifunctional printer services. His role there will include building the sales team, developing the sales process and growing revenues.
Austins background in bureau print began in 1982 with Micro Media and culminated in his partnership to create Laser Facilities, now LaserCom, in 1994. In six years he and his partner built the business to consist of 17 high-speed laser printers doing 20 million clicks per month and it was the biggest such business in the Southern Hemisphere at the time.
One of the hot buttons that Austin will press is e-billing. He says that there are many benefits but the primary business drivers are greatly reduced costs for the service providers and environmental impact for their customers. He will provide e-billing services in conjunction with Iposi Net. Alongside the e-billing services will be a sales management system called Occulus that will help businesses to transform their sales environments through actionable information. In addition to Occulus, Austin will also use a locally developed CRM package that hooks into the other systems to provide an integrated, holistic sales solution.
I have always maintained that you must enjoy what you do otherwise there is no point in doing it, said Austin. I enjoyed growing the Ricoh SA business and developing the systems and process to their current maturity and I enjoy developing business in the print bureau, VDP, and document solutions industries, so I will draw on my skills, experience, and expertise to continue doing so.
Alan Austin +27 (0) 82-610-0603 alan@ingweoms.co.za
