Fujitsu's strategy for selling ATMs to small financial institutions isn't all that different from the strategy of a lonely person looking for a date. In both cases, it often pays to let your friends make the introductions for you.
For about a dozen years, the Japanese manufacturer has been partnering with companies that already call on financial institutions to sell products like vaults, pneumatic tubes and other equipment.
The program was formalized in 1996 and has grown steadily since then. In a recent flurry of activity, Fujitsu added three new dealers in the past nine months – Cincinnati-based ATM Plus, Las Vegas-based Nevada ATM Service & Sales Inc. and Tampa, Fla.-based Foreline Security Corp. The total number of U.S. partners is now 15.
Fujitsu has similar programs in Mexico and Central America, where Microformas is its partner, and in Latin America, where it has a relationship with Unisys.
Kathy Ewing, manager of the business partner program, said it's a cost effective way for Fujitsu to sell machines. She and another manager, Jeff Novotny, oversee the accounts.
"It's a lot easier for us to manage these 16 accounts, versus having 10 sales guys, each with one or two accounts," she said.
Because the partners already have established relationships with financial institutions, "their cost of sales is much less than ours," she added.
Unlike some other manufacturers that sell primarily to financial institutions, Fujitsu offers its dealers the option of using the company's national service organization or of providing their own service after receiving training from Fujitsu. In fact, the majority of Fujitsu dealers do their own service, Ewing said.
Cora Leatherman, CEO of Nevada ATM Service & Sales, said the service option was one of the "partner friendly" features of the Fujitsu program that was attractive to her company. "They make you actually feel like a partner rather than someone they just want to dump ATMs on."
While Nevada ATM Service and Sales deals in a variety of refurbished equipment, Fujitsu is the first line of new hardware the company has sold in its 12-year history. In addition to service, the company is providing installation and systems support to Fujitsu owners and operators throughout Nevada.
Many community banks and credit unions prefer to work with smaller companies like hers, Leatherman said, because they possess like-minded approaches to customer service. "Big companies can't always provide the kind of service they want."
Ewing agreed, noting that service contracts are another opportunity for dealers to leverage existing relationships that may lead to hardware sales. "Third-party service providers can service everybody's ATMs. It's an opportunity to get into a competing shop, give them service and win them over with our products."
