5 Tech Deal-Closing Strategies

Offer Evaluations Deals Fujitsu and Acer say their channel partners have gotten some traction lately by putting try-it-before-you-buy-it equipment on customer sites. Fujitsu is running its program with storage devices and reports an 80 percent close rate on deals.

Get StimulatedFujitsu reports it is digging into the Obama administration's stimulus package to look for funding for deals. The trick is for the channel partner to actually write the proposal to win the grant from the government.

Zero-Percent FinancingIf your customer says he doesn't have the cash for those new systems that you both know that he desperately needs, why not spread the payments out? Several vendors—including Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Microsoft and Cisco Systems—are offering zero-percent or low-interest financing on various types of hardware. Dell has even rolled out such a program for certain notebooks.

Run a ContestAcer is running a contest in the education market that will award a fully equipped computer lab to the winning school, and a trip to the Bahamas to the channel partner who places the products in the school. Maybe that's why 1,200 schools have bought in so far.

Try NetbooksWhile other hardware system sales are expected to decline, those cheap little netbooks remain a hot little item. And while the pricing on netbooks doesn't leave much room for margin, offering them could gain you access to accounts where money is tight. Plus, there could still be money to be made on the total solution, integration and maintenance.

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