By Colin Martin - CEO, PromoPipeline
I am confused. I am confused in part because I am an outsider. I am a marketing and a business guy, not a techie. I developed and launched a vertical search engine for the IT channel because I saw an opportunity to improve the lives of thousands of people. And now, the more I get involved in the channel and thus understanding the needs of vendors and resellers alike, I am a bit bewildered.
Let me explain, those that are “in the know” and respected as IT channel knowledge agents speak frequently about how the channel is shrinking and that IT vendors and distributors alike find the channel an enigma. They speak of how channel participants just cannot get on the same page and the resulting chaos is causing business to be lost, thus hurting all involved.
At the risk of sounding insulting to some who actually get it, I would like to suggest some elementary business ideas to begin bringing mutually beneficial parties back together. This kind of reminds me of a ‘back to the basics’ baseball coach that begins practice by holding a small round object over his head in a team meeting and says “This is a baseball”.
Are you ready? Here it is:
Profit. Resellers want to sell products and services that allow them to make a reasonable amount of money from which to run a business. IT vendors can’t have it both ways. You cannot allow BestBuy to sell product for less than a Value Added Reseller can buy it through the channel and expect resellers to love you, be strong sellers of your product and have a great attitude.
Clear Communications. Resellers want communication and education that is concise and meaningful. Allow me to explain what this is not. It is not email. I have interviewed countless VARs who have told me of the hundreds of product and promotion oriented emails a day they get from venders and distributors that all end up in their junk folder. There is way too much communication noise in the channel and every reseller knows it. Vendors and distributors must find a way to give resellers information they need, when they need it; period.
Respect. The amount of vendors and distributors that I have spoken to that say things like “well resellers overreact – you know” or “resellers really don’t know what they want” is mind-blowing. With the exception of individuals like Jack Doxey at Autodesk (who may be running the best channel partner program on the planet), most vendors have little respect for this legion of technical entrepreneurs that purchase $120,000,000,000 in IT products every year. Show a little respect by giving them education, a little extra attention from knowledgeable reps and communicate in a way that doesn’t waste their time. It will pay off in spades.
Trust. This is simple. Do what you say and say what you do, even if it has a short term negative impact on your business. Show by your actions that you are willing to take a hit along with your channel partners and loyalty and profits will ensue. Don’t, don’t don’t quote their customer when a channel partner already has a bid in place. If you are going to develop a channel, don’t go around the channel.
So, there it is. Call me crazy but I do not believe that using, managing and selling through the channel needs to be that complex. Put another way, VARs do not want to work for free, to be double-crossed and to be bombarded with communications they have no prayer of actually digging into and reading. Communicate clearly, have integrity and show channel partners that you want them to make a living.
Listen up team…this is a baseball.
By Colin Martin, CEO of PromoPipeline, an IT Channel Partner vertical search engine based in Greenville, South Carolina. He may be reached at cmartin@promopipeline.com
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