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Daren Parsons, Elite’s Managing Director has built his career in the document management industry. He started off on the hardware side, gaining expert knowledge in photocopiers and scanners. During his term as an IT Director for a major photocopier dealer, he realized that a high-end document management system to compliment the hardware was what his customers needed. It was around this time that he met with the DocuWare team based in the UK and immediately understood the synergies waiting to be developed between copier dealers and solutions providers.
“Soon after we became a partner, we had the good fortune to take over the support contracts of another top performing Authorised DocuWare Partner whose owner was about to retire. Managing that transition required some serious restructuring. We had to quickly understand the unique requirements of their customers and then ensure their transfer over to Elite was seamless. We earned their repeat business and loyalty. This project really honed our technical skills as a partner!”
Upon evaluating the product and the partnership program, Daren understood that becoming a successful partner would require some investment in technical and sales training, but he was ready for the challenge as it was already clear to him that he had exactly the kind of support he would need from DocuWare. “From my first meeting with them, I knew this was a team I could pick up the phone to at any time either for a chat or for support,” states Daren. He joined Elite Document Solutions Ltd. and they became a partner in 2013.
In subsequent conversations with DocuWare, it was also apparent to Daren that product development was a huge part of the company’s plan. This constant quest for improvement and perfection appealed to Daren’s own business philosophy – his strategy as an Authorised DocuWare Partner was also based on strong, fast growth and greater profitability.
Over the course of a few short years, Elite shifted customers from print and paper to digital. Their customer base spanned the globe from The Americas to Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia. Their partnership with DocuWare grew stronger and to meet demand in the market, they recruited more technical staff. Elite now has a team of seven dedicated technical staff, two support desk staff and five sales representatives. They have built their brand and reputation by delivering exactly what the customer needs and more. For example, they have a scanning service for customers who want DocuWare, but do not have the resources to dedicate to scanning and storing historical documents in the system. Elite simply takes over this task, completing all the back scanning for their customers; allowing them experience the efficiencies of going digital and benefit from the business continuity it ensures.
As Elite continued to grow and successfully digitise businesses across the globe and across all industry sectors, DocuWare continued to add new features and enhancements. These software improvements meant that partners such as Elite, covering a huge range of industries, no longer needed to implement DocuWare for a few tasks and use another solution for other tasks. DocuWare quickly became the only solution their customers needed!
We take the time to listen & understand every aspect of our customers' business. We then analyze this information and use it to deliver the absolute best version of DocuWare available – be it cloud or on-premises. Sometimes that means tweaking the solution to better fit our customers’ business. DocuWare gives us the technical know-how, support and freedom to cater to our customers' every need.
Daren Parsons
Managing Director
“We manage the software integrations for our customers and bring it all into one tidy process by ridding them of shared network folders and other antiquated storage solutions. In no time, they are calling to ask what else we can do for them. There is always more that we can do because with DocuWare there is just so much room for expansion & growth.”
While Elite’s customers hail from all industries, DocuWare’s dedication to becoming a full- service document management solution paved the way for Elite’s smooth entry into the Finance sector, which had long been a goal for them. Seamless integrations with existing accounting software such as SAGE or QuickBooks meant shorter learning curves and faster user acceptance. “We manage the software integrations for our customers and bring it all into one tidy process. We get rid of shared network folders and other antiquated storage spaces. In no time, our customers are calling to ask what else we can do for them. There is always more that we can do because with DocuWare there is just so much room for expansion.”
Closing deals with finance customers became easier and faster with each new version and new feature that DocuWare introduced. For example, DocuWare’s Table Fields feature in Intelligent Indexing proved to be of great value to every Finance Department employee. It not only eliminated manual entry but also removed the risk of human error. Elite were even able to enhance this feature for certain customers, so when the auto-filled text turned green, it was stored automatically – no need for additional clicks on the “save” button. By investing in training and technical support for their partner, DocuWare empowered Elite with the know-how to tweak the solution in ways that appealed to their finance customers. A customised solution that is hugely cost and time saving for their customers and results in a quick, easy and profitable sale for Elite Document Solutions Ltd. means everyone is happy and successful.
Elite’s expertise and growth as a DocuWare partner is limitless – as a DocuWare reseller themselves, they have hired other manufacturers and photocopier resellers to help them meet new business demands. As DocuWare provides impeccable 24/7 support and training to Elite, they in turn can share their expertise with their own resellers.
“We have completed over 27 projects so far during the pandemic, all while working remotely. DocuWare continues to give us the tools and expertise to keep delivering the best in document management solutions to our customers.”
Almost every sales conversation is initiated by Elite’s Tele-sales team. They target Finance departments, identify the pain points and bring in the sales representative to conduct a personalised demo to show the customer where they are and where Elite can take them. At every point in the sales process, as an Authorised DocuWare Partner, Elite can rely on DocuWare sales and professional services for support.
“Our overall split across our entire customer base, between cloud and on-premises installations is about 50/50. Over the last 2 years, almost 80% of our implementations have been cloud-based. We do a detailed cost analysis and ensure our pricing shows a good ROI, so there is little delay in customer sign-off, and with cloud the cost is scalable and easier for a customer to justify.”
Summing up the partner relationship that they have with DocuWare, Daren Parsons says, “The people at DocuWare from the presidents to every team member are down to earth and approachable.” In looking forward to what the rest of 2020 and onwards can bring, he says, “we completed over 27 projects during the pandemic while working from home. DocuWare continues to give us the tools and expertise to keep delivering the best in document management solutions to our customers.”
There’s a huge market waiting for you. DocuWare is profitable, stable and experienced — and the product boasts deeply proven success. Stop waiting. Start profiting.
