Solutions instead of products: Michael Feierabend, Head of Sales at Office Mix GmbH, explains how Office Mix manages the balancing act between C-items and customized goods.
Michael Feierabend has almost 25 years of experience in the field of office logistics. He has acquired his knowledge from the ground up and has witnessed all the changes in the industry. He has been working for Office Mix, a leading independent provider of office logistics in Germany, since 2017. As Head of Sales since 2023, he is primarily responsible for the areas of market strategy and product portfolio. In this role, he is responsible for the management of platforms, marketplaces and new sales channels. Feierabend has been actively promoting the partnership with the e-procurement platform simple system since it was founded in 2000.
From standard offer to customized service
Office Mix, founded in 1990 by Klaus Mix, is a medium-sized company with over 100 employees that offers a comprehensive range of products and solutions for office work. The range includes office supplies, most of which are standardized and permanently available from stock in quantities of 35,000. Nevertheless, the trend is increasingly moving towards customized solutions. Feierabend emphasizes:
"What makes Office Mix special is our ability not only to distribute products, but also to produce them ourselves. That's why printed materials such as stationery or envelopes that we sell are produced in our own print shop."
Michael Feierabend
Sales Manager Office Mix GmbH
This also includes personalized promotional items, which are now one of the fastest growing product groups. Office Mix is one of the top 10 suppliers of promotional items on the German market and works exclusively for the nationwide branches of the Sparkasse Group.
Winning customers actively and reactively
Thanks to the continuous expansion of its own product portfolio and strategic acquisitions, Office Mix achieves growth success year after year despite the market trend. "On the one hand, we trade in very inexpensive C-items, but on the other hand we are also pioneers, as this combination of different product groups is unique," explains Feierabend. Office Mix achieves this balancing act by moving away from pure product sales to a consulting level with corresponding expertise in process flows.
"Today, we no longer sell products, but solutions and processes, and this creates trust. This forms the basis for our customers' purchasing decisions."
Michael Feierabend
Sales Manager Office Mix GmbH
The long-standing collaboration with the e-procurement platform simple system has played a key role in enabling Office Mix to actively expand its customer base. "As Office Mix, we don't just act reactively. We have already connected over 30 customers via simple system and are now aiming for further strategic cooperation," says Feierabend.
A special synergy results from the connection to simple system. This takes place in two ways: firstly, through classic acquisition, in which customers approach the platform due to their interest in Office Mix and its portfolio. As a well-known e-procurement platform and solution for the digitalization of customer processes, simple system plays a decisive role in the decision-making process. In addition, Office Mix enables all transactions to be processed directly via simple system, which brings immediate benefits to customers as approval processes and invoicing are accelerated.
The second type of acquisition takes place via simple system itself. The switch to NextGen in particular and the associated expansion of the customer base mean that more and more customers are approaching Office Mix as a connected supplier via the platform.
Years of collaboration make onboarding easy
The long-standing partnership with simple system makes onboarding for Office Mix straightforward. The employees are very familiar with the platform and know exactly what to do when implementing it for new customers. "This enables us to automate individual process steps and keep our cost structure low during the onboarding process," explains Feierabend. The expertise is also transferred to the customers and creates trust - the basis for long-term customer and supplier relationships.
