Frequently Asked Questions

Platform FAQ

What is a platform?
A Platform is a modern digital environment utilized for eliminating waste of resources in a supply chain. A Platform replaces a traditional “pipeline” business that consumes working capital (inventory) and contributes to waste (obsolescence). Our platform provides access to an almost unlimited choice of products and connects demand and supply electronically.
What components make up the platform?
The platform is the Power Ecommerce system which consists of a database of products consolidated from 20+ partners in the office products industry. There are providers of other services to enhance the services available via the platform including digital marketing and a variety of business intelligence tools.
What purpose does the platform serve?
The platform has been created in order to connect demand with supply in the most efficient way possible. It is designed to eliminate unnecessary deployment of capital and eliminate existing restrictions to products not available through the primary distribution channels.
Do other platforms exist?
Yes. Uber is a platform business and so is AirBnB. Platform businesses are the way of the digital future and are putting severe pressure on traditional analog “pipeline” business models.

Who is this platform designed to help?
The platform is designed to help the existing community of office products resellers in the United States and Canada. Its power to broadcast it’s message to businesses and consumers will develop exponentially as more resellers join and as they expand their social and email audiences.
What is the primary objective of the platform?
The primary objective is to build a community of resellers and to facilitate communicating a message to the resellers’ audience with regards to the value proposition of high-quality aftermarket office products. According to our research, there is a $20 billion growth opportunity for resellers who can intelligently convert their customers from high priced OEM brand cartridges to aftermarket versions.
Are there other platforms available in the office products industry?

There are no other platform providers in the office products industry (to the best of our knowledge) that provide the scope of service we offer. With over 300,000 office products from 20+ data feed partners and inventory located in well over 100 distribution centers located around the United States and Canada, we believe we have the largest catalog of products and business intelligence tools in the industry.

Resellers have been trying to convert from OEM to aftermarket for years – why will this platform make a difference?
The reason this platform will make a difference is two-fold. Firstly, deploying high-quality websites rich in educational and informational content designed to build confidence and trust among researching buyers compared to the typical approach of marketing on price, price, price. Secondly, by communicating a consistent message to a large audience with regards to the aftermarket value proposition, we can help overcome the fear, uncertainty, and doubt placed in consumers minds as a result of OEM marketing dollars with regards to the so-called risks associated with aftermarket products.
What do you mean by a “large audience” and why is this important?
Think about the following example – one thousand resellers (10% of the total in the United States) with 2,000 email contacts and 4,000 social contacts (not unrealistic targets to achieve within two-years of joining our program) provides a collective audience of 2,000,000 email contacts and 4,000,000 social contacts. 2 emails per week equals 16,000,000 per month. 20 social messages per month equal 80,000,000 per month. You think this can make a difference in terms of communicating a professionally developed message on the aftermarket proposition?
Why did you build a platform for the office products industry?

We believe there’s a $20 billion per year growth opportunity in the United States office products industry and we know there’s an experienced sales organization with over 10,000 small to medium-sized resellers within the United States alone that can be utilized to leverage this opportunity. However, we believe it can only be developed using modern digital tactics and strategies and that most resellers do not have the skills required to benefit from the opportunity. By developing our platform we are able to deliver a turn-key digital transformation solution for the industry.

What are some of the real benefits I will experience as a result of joining your platform?

Not only will you have access to up-to 300,000 office products you will not have to spend any of your time managing your online catalog. All the images, product descriptions, specifications, attributes, and characteristics are pre-populated. This will save you enormous amounts of time. We’re providing sophisticated business intelligence tools and have a strong pipeline of additional tools for managing, interpreting and effectively using large amounts of data. You will not need to tie up any of your working capital in inventory or carry the risk of future inventory obsolescence.

How much time will I have to put in to manage my website?

You will have to spend some time to setup your “About US” page as well as complete the wizard for entering your company details, such as logo, name, address and other contact details. You will need to connect your social media accounts. You don’t have to do anything else to accomplish a successful setup and you will not have to do anything more to manage the content on a go-forward basis.

Academy FAQ

What is the objective of the education track?

There are a number of objectives associated with the education we provide. Firstly we want to educate you on the industry – we have 30+ years of executive level experience and know a lot that you probably don’t. We also want to educate you on the necessity of joining the digital environment we are now part of. When Wal-Mart starts investing $2 billion + annually in trying and avoiding being left further behind by Amazon, then it’s a strong indication that this is where the future lies.

If I subscribe do I have to complete the educational courses?

Yes. You need to complete the first four courses that make up part of the deliverable once you have signed up and paid for our program.

Why is the education so important?

We don’t believe you will be able to maximize the value of the purchase you make from us unless you understand the industry, modern e-commerce and the importance of business planning and measurement of key performance indicators against a plan.

If the education is so important in order for me to understand the value proposition, then why do I have to pay you for joining your program before I fully understand your value proposition?

You do not have to pay us anything to take the first four courses we have prepared. In fact, we encourage you to take these first if you wish to do so. All we ask in return is you register and provide us with your email address in order to gain access to the course material. By taking the first four courses before you pay to enter our program you will be more fully informed of our value proposition and the $20 billion growth opportunity.

Why isn’t the second part of the course track relating to social media and digital marketing complete? I can see the curriculum has been developed but not the course material?

We are launching our program as a Pilot. We will only take in a limited number of customers to the Pilot Program because we want the development of the digital portion of the education track to be co-developed with “real” customers. Some of the concepts required to be learned are likely to be well outside existing skill sets. We believe we can tailor this part of our education to the real needs of our target customers by partnering with a small group of resellers.

Will you deliver my new website before I've taken the first four courses that make up the first phase of the education track?

No. We are so sure that you will benefit from these first four courses that we offer them for FREE!

Can I pick and choose what I want to learn about in the courses?

The courses must be completed in order and the individual lessons within each of the courses must also be completed in the pre-set order.

Are there any tests or quizzes required?

Yes. You will be quizzed after each section of each course. You will not be able to progress to the following section of a course until you’ve taken, and successfully completed, the quizzes. You can take each quiz a maximum of three times and you must have a passing grade of at least 80% in order to progress.

What happens if I fail to get a passing grade?

You’ll have to contact us and we’ll coach you through the section you had difficulty with.

Do you keep a record of the grades?

We do. This helps us in a process of continual improvement and to help us determine areas of potential weakness in our course material and to identify your strengths and weaknesses as our partnership progresses.

How long will it take me to complete the courses?

Each course varies in length and requires between 2 and 3 hours to complete. In total, you will need to allocate around 10 hours of your time to complete all 4 courses required to permit delivery of your new website.

Is the course content restricted to one person or can anyone from my company take the course?

You can add users from your company. The only restriction is that they must have the same email domain as the one you use for registration – i.e. TomSmith@MidTennOP.com MarySmith@MidTennOP.com, etc.

Can the course content be downloaded?

Yes, we have provided links for downloading course transcripts, audio links and course summaries.

Can I submit questions and comments with regards to the course material?

Yes you can. We will see your comments and we will respond. Other subscribers will also see your comments and questions and may respond. We will encourage subscribers to provide constructive feedback for the benefit of everyone.

Partnership FAQ

What is the partnership?
We want to partner with you for the longer term to help you with your digital business transformation. One of the biggest problems you will encounter as you embark on this path with us is staying motivated. By developing a 4-year business plan in conjunction with us you will have targets for all the key performance indicators. Part of our deliverable is to provide you with a reporting dashboard in order you can see your progress against plan.
Why is the partnership you offer so important?
It’s simple – without our partnership you will most likely fail to achieve your objectives. We’re going to establish numerous key performance indicators (KPIs) from the business plan we jointly create. We’ll be providing you a dashboard so you can see your performance versus plan for all these KPIs. You’re going to see you’re successfully building the platform and you’re going to see your social and email audience expanding as well as their levels of engagement. Later, you will see this foundational development translate into increased sales and profits. Without this partnership, we believe most small business operators allow their digital transformation efforts to stagnate and eventually die largely because they didn’t understand the time-lag between social audience development and increased sales.
Why do you think I may give up unless you partner with me for a longer time period?
History tells us many office products resellers (in fact many small businesses regardless of the products) give up on their digital initiatives after 6-12 months. They give up because their sales targets are unrealistic and they’re not measuring sufficient key indicators to understand they’re making progress building the foundation for sales growth. Many small businesses become discouraged with fledgling digital initiatives because there’s a time lag building a social and email audience and winning new business. We will help you through this period and keep you motivated to stay the course.
How long is our partnership expected to last?

Entering our program requires a minimum commitment of 12-months. However, we hope our partnership will be much longer than this. It will take about one-year for you to see tangible results from our program so we’re pretty confident you are going to want to continue working with us beyond the initial 12-months.

What if I feel like I’ve learned enough from you to go solo after 12-months and save the subscription fees I’m paying to you?

That’s no problem – we are able to disassociate you from our Agency program but leave your platform intact. We don’t think you’ll want to recreate a website or exit the Power Ecommerce platform so, assuming this is the case, those subscriptions would continue. But if you wanted to take over your content creation, social media streams, and email marketing then we can enable a smooth exit from these components of our partnership.