| Disclaimer:
These results were taken from surveys actually submitted. OPSoftware, its
employees, family members, associates, and investors were not allowed to
participate in the final survey results. These results were not verified
by telephone or other means. The respondent answers were taken at face
value. |
|
| Statistics:
Approximately 2,200 requests to
participate were emailed. Approximately 450 were returned bad, out of
office, auto-reply, etc. Approximately 1,750 were assumed to be delivered
successfully. 27 requested to be removed from future surveys. |
|
| Respondents:
Responses to the survey were 513 or 29.31% of the assumed successfully
invited. |
|
| Question 1: In
your opinion, what is the number one challenge facing the
independent office products dealer today? |
 |
| Legend: |
| Retail
chain stores: Competition from the retail chain stores. (Office Depot,
Staples, Office Max, etc.) |
| Mega
commercial dealers: Competition from the mega commercial dealers.
(Boise, Corporate Express, etc.) |
| Employees:
Obtaining and retaining qualified and motivated employees. |
| Economy:
Surviving the ups and downs of the economy. |
| Technology:
Proper and effective utilization of technology. |
| Overhead:
Reducing overhead and operating expenses. |
| Other
Competition: Competition from other sources (Mail order, Internet only
businesses, and all others) |
| Corporate
divisions: Competition from the retail chain stores corporate business
divisions. |
| Other:
Check if you believe the number one challenge is not on this list. |
|
| Question
2: Which of the following
industry segments best describes your organization? |
 |
| Legend: |
| Independent
dealer: Independent office products dealership. |
| Manufacturer:
Manufacturer
of office products. |
| Wholesaler:
Wholesale
distributor of office products. |
| Service
provider: Service
provider including technology, marketing, leasing, etc. |
| Association:
Industry
association including buying groups, marketing groups, etc. |
| Consultant:
Industry
consultant. |
| Other:
Other
segment. |
|
| Question
3: Which of the
following roles best describes you within your organization? |
 |
| Legend: |
| Owner:
Owner,
President, or primary decision maker. |
| Supervisor:
Supervisor
or departmental head. |
| Sales
rep: Sales
representative. |
| CS
rep: Customer
service representative. |
| Staff
Member: Staff
member. |
| Other:
Other role. |
|
Analysis:
- The response rate from our unique
email-based survey was triple that of the typical Internet survey
response rate of approximately 10%.
- Independent dealer decision makers were
exceptionally well represented.
- Manufacturer segment needs more
representation.
- Wholesaler segment needs more
representation.
- Low representation from some industry
segments most likely due to lack of qualified email addresses from the
segment.
- Participation may have been reduced by
the tragic events of the past week.
|
|
Next
Steps:
- Encourage your co-workers to visit www.opsoftware.com,
choose the Survey link, and then the Login link where they can join
the OP industry public opinion polls.
- Encourage your colleagues to join.
- Encourage your manufacturer contacts to
join.
- Encourage your wholesaler contacts to
join.
- Send us the question you want the
industry to answer to: support@opsoftware.com.
- It's your voice and everyone's opinion
counts. Don't miss out.
The next survey has already been
established by our independent dealer advisory group. It contains the two
most commonly asked questions, and they affect EVERYONE! You will not want to miss it! |
