PRINT
IT
RESELLER.UK
DEALER PROFILE
29
Established in 1995, Mode Print
Solutions employs 40 people in
Hertfordshire and Central London
where 90% of its customers are based.
Chairman David Davis, who set up the
company after cutting his teeth in a
large London dealership, attributes
the firm’s two decades of success to
the quality of its customer service, a
key selling point from day one.
“Setting up Mode Print Solutions was
a risk as I knew I wanted to stray from
the status quo of the sector. But I believed
the market was crying out for something
different, a one-stop printing solutions
shop that put the customer at the heart of
its operations, and fortunately I was right,”
he said.
“The company I used to work for did
focus on customer service, but the industry
as a whole didn’t really. Many dealerships
would sell to customers based on how
much they could make, as opposed to what
the client’s actual needs were. After the
initial sale and having received payment
from the leasing companies, customers
would be left to struggle alone with repair,
maintenance and a lack of general support.
This approach didn’t sit comfortably with
me morally and made little commercial
sense either. I figured that if we provided
excellence in customer service, we
wouldn’t lose the customer and that was
the basis on which I set up Mode.”
The fact that a number of customers
– and employees – have been with Mode
Print Solutions from the start is testament
to the success of this approach.
“Our very first customer, a London-
based accountancy firm is still with us and
there’s many more like them. We’re very
good at putting the customer first and
our client retention levels are unbelievably
strong. We’re very proud of that,” Davis
said.
Another key differentiator, claims
Davis, is that customers pay Mode Print
Solutions and not a leasing company.
“We’re not dealing with lease companies
where we get paid up front; we have our
own contracts in place and clients pay us
directly. If they’re not happy, then we don’t
get paid and that’s the incentive we need
to ensure our service is excellent. That’s
what makes us different,” he said.
“Our engineers are on the doorstep
and we get parts delivered straight to
the customer. That approach ensures
we respond to call-outs efficiently
and promptly. And, from an account
management and sales perspective, it
means we can get through a lot of doors
in a day.”
Mode Print Solutions marked its 20th anniversary with a celebratory
event at its Hertfordshire head office.
Putting the
customer first
Investment in staff
Mode Print Solutions puts just as much
effort into the development of its
employees. Training is tightly embedded
into the firm’s ethos and it has developed
its own rigorous sales training programme,
The Mode Sales Academy, to ensure the
continuous professional development of all
employees.
“I wanted to succeed on merit and
built the business block by block. We have
invested, and will continue to invest, in our
people. In building their skillsets, we’ve
secured a strong regular income stream
from regular clients and that’s made us a
financially strong business,” he said.
Mode Print Solutions currently has an
annual turnover of around £6m and has
a five-year plan to achieve ‘exponential
growth’.
“We expect to hit the £10m mark
in two years,” Davis said. “We remain
focussed on organic growth, but that’s not
to say we wouldn’t make an acquisition. It
depends on whether the right opportunity
presents itself.”
Anniversary celebrations
On March 6, the company invited local
MP, Sir Oliver Heald QC, and the Mayor
of Ware, Cllr Mrs Rosalie Standley, to join
staff members and customers at an event
to celebrate Mode Print Solutions’ 20th
anniversary.
Also in attendance were representatives
from the three charities Mode supports
– Marie Curie Cancer Care, The Blue
Cross and Together for Short Lives. For
every print/copy a customer makes, Mode
donates a fraction of a penny to whichever
one of the three charities the customer
wants to support. On the day, it presented
cheques totalling £15,500 to the charities’
representatives.
“The secret to Mode’s success is
simple,” said Davis. “It’s all about people,
whether those people are customers,
employees or suppliers. Treating people
with respect, acting with integrity and
investing in relationships have been the
bedrock of our achievements to date.”
David Davis,
Chairman, Mode
Print Solutions
