Drawing on the experience of a long industry career which started as a van Assistant with Bell-Fruit in 1997 and also saw him launch his own business, Stuart Arnold has seen the industry from all angles. In his role as Account Manager with Blueprint Operations he is responsible for meeting the machine needs of the industry’s SME operators.

Blueprint Operations (BPO) has underlined its commitment to operators of all sizes and across all industry sectors following the appointment of Stuart Arnold as Account Manager with specific responsibility for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The appointment is symptomatic of BPO’s overarching customer-centric sales philosophy.

Arnold, whose 27-year industry career began as a Van Assistant with Bell-Fruit  and included periods with Ivor Thomas Amusements, building Star Leisure, his own single site business and most recently as Operations Director at Fortuna Entertainment, reports directly to James Fergusson, BPO Head of Product.

Explaining his role in greater detail Stuart Arnold said: “I think it’s true to say that the overriding approach for most businesses is to simply record a sale, which is understandable. However, Blueprint is a different proposition entirely: the objective that I have is to grow relationships with our SME accounts –these are built on integrity, transparency and providing best advice.

“This philosophy, which sits at the heart of the Buy Direct strategy, has succeeded in reactivating a significant number of previously lapsed accounts and engaging businesses of all sizes.”

He added: “Rather than just selling, the issues that I deal with and the questions I ask are firstly, does the product fit the business and secondly, how will specific operations  benefit from the purchase?  

“My job is to understand what a business requires, draw on my experience having worked in numerous different capacities and provide the advice that I would expect if I was on the other side of the fence.

“The customer needs to trust you and understand that you are not just selling a product because that’s your job. Sales is relatively easy – looking after people is the hard part. If you get this bit right customers have no reason to move away.”

Addressing the income generating potential of the current crop of Blueprint machines he noted: “The products are amazing at the moment and with cashboxes growing there’s no doubt that digital has been a turning point for the industry.

“We are at a point where you can play your favourite games from your phone on a large screen terminal in an AGC or  your local pub. Games are becoming brands and the last time we experienced this in the industry  was with the reel-based Deal or no Deal. With so much opportunity it’s more important than ever to make sure business owners are receiving the best possible advice and insight.”