O’Hara at Data Solutions agrees that it is vital vendors get their products to market as quickly as possible as the product lifecycle of many technologies in the IT industry is much shorter than in most other industries. “We call this ‘faster market penetration’. For new vendors, we accelerate the time to close the first sale with our channel partners through our on-boarding programme. This involves intensive product briefings, technical training with certification and well-publicised product launch events”.
“The more successful this ‘better together’ experience is for the customer, the more likely it is for the partner and the vendor to replicate and grow each other’s business” – Liam Halpin, Dell
The best way to generate quick RoI is through “a well-trained and motivated channel selling market-leading technologies from channel-friendly vendors”. He backs this argument up with a list of growth statistics for vendors handled by Data Solutions over the past five years, claiming it “has grown Check Point’s Irish business by 430%; Dell Wyse business by 600% and ShoreTel by 1000%. In just three years we have grown Aruba Networks business by 620%. Achieving faster market penetration for a vendor is the definition of a successful channel,” O’Hara claims.
Appreciable value
Vyvyan suggests that whatever the principles underpinning a channel strategy may be, the issue is “less about getting channel people to understand, it’s much more important and difficult to get direct salespeople to appreciate the value the reseller brings”. Too often, direct salespeople think the channel “is just taking margin away”. They have to learn to appreciate the number of opportunities that can come from a channel partnership compared to what they can do on their own.
But there has to be a strong structure in place to ensure any conflict is kept to a minimum. “It’s all about honesty and integrity,” he states. “Too many times people take the soft option, but it always comes back and bites them. We’re very good at having a clear-ish set of rules. You can never put rules in place for every single situation, but we have an understanding of what we’re trying to achieve, of what’s fair and what’s right, and we stick to it. At the management level, resellers see we act fairly, we act honestly and we act with integrity.”
From his experience, Ellis at Arrow ECS says that one of the key planks for a successful channel programme is that “both partners and vendors need to buy into it, so they need to have clear, measurable goals in what they want to achieve from the relationship. Partners and suppliers who put together joint plans signed off by senior stakeholders in both organisations are much more likely to deliver success for both parties. Shared ownership makes it more likely to succeed”.
When it comes to avoiding conflict between partners and direct sales, Halpin at Dell argues “the best way is to have a clear and transparent engagement model and a solid deal registration process that protects the investment qualified partners make into customer relationships. It’s also important that a vendor invests in partners that are certified and helps with go-to-market and business planning”.
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