AMD’s rage for sales
Browsing through the websites this morning looking for something channel-based to write about, my interest was roused by a headline on the CRN website for an interview with the head of AMD’s channel in North America, Terry Richardson.
The headline stated: New program(me) rewards partners who ‘aggressively’ sell AMD. Here’s the relevant quote: “If they choose to really understand and take the time to not only understand the AMD differentiation but start to aggressively position it, then there’s a reward.” I’m not sure that’s quite as definitive as the headline implies but that’s headlines for you.
Anyway, I’m interested in exploring what is meant by “aggressively selling”. I can see the attraction for the vendor of putting together a programme that encourages and rewards partners that sell its products or services. I’m just not sure about how aggressive that needs to be.
First of all, is there a danger that being so aggressively in favour of one vendor could end up with some of the others feeling a bit aggrieved and left out? Would it lead to a sort of ever-increasing level of aggressiveness where a vendor would require the partner to become aggressive and then another might want the partner to be even more aggressive to compensate for that?
What would customers feel about such an aggressive stance from their channel partners regarding one vendor in particular? Might they start to wonder if there was something desperate or obsessive about it? Could it become a bit like being stuck at a gathering or event with the one person who really really thinks the sole topic of conversation should be railway gauges around the world?
Perhaps I’m guilty of being unkind here. Maybe the subject of railway gauges around the world is a rewarding topic of conversation but probably not if someone is pursuing it aggressively at nearly every opportunity. I’m inclined to think the subject of CPUs is likely to be similarly limited in terms of just how much you can talk about it with 99% of the population.
Is there a danger that being very aggressive about selling something could backfire? Could it put people off? I appreciate that there’s an understandable desire to try and put your product/service in front of the customer and do everything you can to grab their attention, but that doesn’t mean it’s always the best course of action.
I’m not a salesperson but it would appear to me that if I was marketing a product/service that wasn’t the industry leader or the one with the biggest market share, I’d be trying to avoid hyperbole or too much aggression when I was talking to the customer. Let’s be honest, the customer would already have an engrained perception of the other product/service and it would be an uphill task to try and dislodge that.
Too much aggression would only reinforce the other product/service’s position because I would be fighting for my product/service on the terrain the rival company had created. In those circumstances, I think it might be better to widen the parameters of that battle as much as possible. Aggression may only serve to restrict them.
Of course, as a vendor you need to have a confidence and belief in the product/service that you’re touting and so do your partners, but not at the risk of appearing arrogant.
Maybe it doesn’t mean anything. Perhaps trying to “aggressively sell” something is a redundancy. Think back to that headline. Now look at this one: New program(me) rewards partners who sell AMD. Which one makes the most sense?
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