Here is a recap of what the panel of 4 leading VARs and MSPs said about how they are doing business today and how it is best for vendors and distributors to fit into their new model.
- Do not pitch hardware and push to sell, sell, sell!
- Do not send inexperienced channel reps to meet them.
- Do not make your channel program complex.
- Simplify your channel partner portals to make it much easier to find information that they need.
- Demonstrate how your product fits into their overall solutions that they sell. Come with whole solutions.
- Help them to market and sell as much as you can.
- Listen to what they want and need and do you best to accommodate.
- Help them to learn and improve their business.
- Do not over distribute.
- Make your deal registration program work properly to protect them.
In Canada, there are already over 1,500 VARs/MSPs that have already made the transition to a managed service-centric business model. As such, they have much less dependency on products, hardware vendors and distributors. They are already making more profits and selling less volume. This is definitely good news to SaaS type vendors but hardware type vendors may need to adapt their channel game.
Of course the traditional channel partners will be business as usual, but for how long? The data shows about half of the channel partners are already stagnant. There are specific ways for hardware vendors to realign their channel strategy to better exploit this new generation of “profitable and sustainable” channel partners.
Here are some of the other takeaways for the summit:
- It’s all green lights for SaaS vendors. For hardware vendors, explore how you could offer a Hardware-as-a-Servcie model or something close to it. It is possible! Just 5 years ago, people said it was impossible to sell a service on a monthly recurring fee!
- Find a way to integrate your hardware and/or software into whole solutions. Build an end-user demand generation strategy around its target audience and align with the right-fit partners.
- Build a solution around your hardware and software so as to attract more attention from the right partners. They are looking for whole solutions to sell to their customers. Nothing less will suffice.
- Keep on working with current partners, but keep in mind that some will fall. Hedge your bets. The best time to build a roof is before it rains! Always keep hunting for new partners.
- Identify your current partners with potential and help them to join a VARMasterMind group. This is what they really need to improve their game! Explore how VARMasterMind, VARCoach and VAROfficeSuite can help you make your partners bigger better and stronger!
- Maintaining a stable channel team is good business. Inexperienced new faces tend to aggravate your current partners and can be negative to your channel growth (as the VAR/MSP panel pointed out). Build and leverage a team approach to help buffer such situations.
- Keeping it simple is better than making it too complex. What you loose from simplifying your channel programs, you will gain much more in results and support from partners. No one has time to jump through hoops.
- Connect with your partners as often as you can, in anyway you can. To save costs, time and other resources, meet your partners in groups at channel events like ChannelNEXT. See www.channelnext.ca.
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