I think the local dealers biggest advantage against the National vendors is flexibility. Dealers naturally have much shorter chains of command due to having far less employees. Therefore, dealers can make quicker decisions.
The National Vendors are always going to have the advantage of price and a lesser concern for profitability.
If you cant beat them on price, thow in some change-ups on them.
1.Free Pro Services
2 Free HDD Decommissioning
3.Copy Blocks
4. Throw a "bonus" Office Chair, Laptop, Label Printer, Telephones, TVs, USB Drive, Line Conditioner, Software etc into the deal to appeal directly to the buyer.
5). Special Invoicing arrangements
6). Dirt ball low price on used gear.
7). Take care of returning the used gear to the leasing vendor.
Anything to make the deal a non standard deal.
It is all about capture the customer today and upgrade them three years from now. It is much easier to do when you are the incumbent with good service and you know all of the numbers.
People prefer to buy from Professional Sales reps but they prefer to buy from the pro they know with good service even more.