BitDepth#941 for June 17

Accvent’s Leonardo Iyescas touts the virtues of the Klip Extreme line of computing accessories to resellers at the Hyatt Regency last Thursday. Photo by Mark Lyndersay.

I’m trying to figure out exactly what I’m doing here.

The attention of everyone in the room at the Hyatt is being held by Leonardo Iyescas, a master of the salesman’s patter as he strides back and forth and down the aisle in the middle of the room, pointing out the advantages of gear from the accessory maker Klip Extreme.

Behind him is the stunningly attractive Klip girl, a riveting beauty with cheekbones sculpted like sheer cliffs in an equally startlingly tight leotard who hands out samples of the company’s products while keeping a careful eye on their progress through the seated crowd.

Even as I’m wondering how I ended up in what’s obviously a sales pitch to resellers, I wonder about the women in the crowd, all serious and business suited, several taking careful notes while Iyescas speaks, and what they think about the Klip girl and her colleagues, all beauties in leotards color keyed to the brands that are on show at the event.

The event is being led by Accvent LLC, a holding company that represents five makers of accessories and gear for computing, Klip Extreme, Forza Power, Nexxt Solutions, Nuqleo and XTech, who between them offer a product line that spans every imaginable tech need from the casual user to the enterprise client.

Accvent operates in 40 Latin American countries and right from the start of its operations in the United States eight years ago, has had the Caribbean “in its radar,” according to Iyescas.

“We target the mid-range segment,” he explained in a short interview after his talk, “providing accessories for the consumer, though some of our brands, Forza, Nexxt and XTech offer product lines for enterprise.”

That was certainly clear as he spoke to his potential customers.

“Logitech,” he told them, “sees itself as the Mercedez Benz of accessories.”

“But where does their stuff come from? China. Everyone makes their stuff in China now.”

“The money is in accessories and wherever you have an attractive display, you sell four times more.”

Boasting a one per cent return rate, Iyescas notes that “basically it either works out of the box or it doesn’t.”

When one unruly retailer suggests that it would be useful to provide product comparison charts, he quickly notes that the product comes in clear packaging with all the information the customer needs is to be found right on the back of each box.

The two never reconcile their quite different perspectives and Iyescas quickly moves on to another question, one that allows him to put a product sample in the hands of a potential seller for inspection.

It’s all fast moving, persuasive and terribly slick.

“What do our customers want?” Iyescas asks during our chat.

“They want to know that when they place an order it ships.”

To meet that need, Accvent keeps US$2 million worth of stock available in its warehouses, though Iyescas notes that they currently are handling twice that.

Among the items you’ll find product that’s best described as an alternative to more costly, though similar items from more familiar brands, though the Verona line of women’s laptop bags were a standout among the bubble packed items.

Nexxt’s line of network cabling and connectivity gear are almost commodity items, and my own experience with a Forza UPS supports that company’s claims of robustness.

Accvent puts brands in contact with resellers and wholesalers to make that marketing happen and ensures that the products are available.

The company currently represents 1,200 product items which it stores in two million square feet of warehouse space in Miami.

It moves that product through 13 distribution sites spread across China, Latin America, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

Incomex is the distributor for Accvent’s brands in T&T and the products are currently being sold by 120 resellers locally.