CTS North America Inc., a subsidiary of Italy-based company, CTS Electronics, a global check processing, cash processing, card embossing and printing manufacturer, is expanding its business in Canada by actively seeking out and engaging with partners.
CTS North America brings to market a wide variety of solutions that include hardware, software and service-based solutions designed for use in the banking, retail, insurance, medical and utilities sectors. Alex Trombetta, CEO at CTS North America, says the company sells a range of products by CTS Electronics, a once prominent supplier of CRT monitors back in the mid to late nineties in Canada.
“Our main focus is with check scanners,” Trombetta said. “We also focus on our open frame modules for the Kiosk and ATM-based solutions because that’s a booming market right now.”
While Trombetta explains CTS North America currently has a solid reseller presence in the U.S. market, he can not say the same about Canada.
“At this time we don’t have too many resellers in Canada,” Trombetta said. “We’re pursuing systems integrators [SIs] that are large and small that also have either a regional scope or a niche market, and we’re also pursuing resellers who are selling fulfillment and service, maintenance and support.”
CTS North America’s strategy to build up its partner network is to focus on just a limited number of partnerships, Trombetta said. He says the company is looking for partners who can provide value added services along with support to their customers.
“The success of our scanner deployments are related to companies that are following the installation process and to those who are supporting and working with their customers very closely,” Trombetta said.
Trombetta estimates there to be around 25 partners involved with CTS North America on the scanner side of things and on the open frame module side, he says there are about 10 partners actively distributing their products.
“Within the past three months, we’ve added more than half a dozen partners to our roster,” Trombetta said.
In addition to looking for partners, CTS North America has also been hiring sales managers over the past couple of months to help reflect the growth and demands of the market. From a sales perspective, Trombetta says CTS North America has training available to its entire sales force; and for partners, CTS North America also provides them with collateral, demo software and other applications to help facilitate sales.
“We also have some incentives to help push sales,” Trombetta said. “We don’t have list pricing for our products because then it becomes a price war. Instead, we have tiered pricing for partners that’s volume-related. Margins are determined upon the [partners’] ability to convey the value of the product. It comes down to us wanting our partners to sell products based on value rather than on price.”
Included in CTS North America’s portfolio of offerings are its desktop check processing products, coin recycling modules and open frame modules for Kiosk and ATM-based machines. Trombetta says these products are unmatched in the market place because they are of very high speed and performance and are built for easy maintenance.
When it comes to Canadian plans, Trombetta mentions CTS North America is currently in talks with some Canadian partners about its open frame modules.
“Canada and the U.S. are very close markets,” he said. “From a business standpoint, Canadian companies can have the same reach and potential as U.S. companies. We see quite a bit of interest in the Canadian market and we often get inquiries about our products.”
