Channel News and Analysis - Channel Insider

 


Convergence:
The Next
Security Wave
The convergence of physical and logical security isn't a new idea, but largely untapped by solution providers. Groups like 1nService and PSA Security are bringing these largely segmented channels together for this $7 billion market opportunity.

 

Channel Conflict Still Rampant, Partners Say


Article Rating:starstarstarstarstar / 10

Rate This Article:
Add This Article To:
A new study of channel partners shows that vendors still often view the indirect sales channel as an afterthought.

Got a complaint about how your vendor deals with channel partners? Get in line.

A new channel performance study gives vendors a failing grade when it comes to how they drive business through their channel partner programs. The study, the Channel Performance Outlook Study, compiled the opinions of 500 indirect channel sales executives, distributors, resellers and other channel representatives. It was conducted by the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) Council and commissioned by BlueRoads.

Channel partner complaints included lean lead rates, unqualified opportunities and ineffective marketing campaigns. Partners also cited ongoing channel conflict and minimal, if any, cooperation between channel and field marketing groups.

"There's a lack of trust that exists," said Dave Murray, executive vice president at the CMO Council. "Often that lack of trust centers around the customer and who owns the customer."

Murray said the study showed that 70 percent of resellers surveyed across a number of industry sectors did not find vendor marketing effective.

"That's a pretty damning data point there," he said.

Among the study's other findings:

  • Less than 7 percent of resellers say vendors are their most valuable source of leads
  • Only 19 percent said vendor leads were highly actionable
  • A full 46 percent say vendor field marketing reps never or infrequently team with them in cooperative selling
  • Nearly 40 percent of resellers say they experienced significant, or at least some, conflict or competition with vendor sales organizations.

Around the issue of leads, Charles Watson, vice president of marketing and sales at BlueRoads, said that many vendors believe they are doing a good job with providing the channel with leads when the reality is actually quite different.

Watson said that at a recent conference, a woman from a reseller company, who described her relationship with the vendor as "good," recounted how that vendor's marketing organization gives leads to the direct sales team first. The direct sales team then skims the best ones and the rest go to the channel.

"That's really common," Watson said, "even when companies feel like the channel relationship is OK. But the thing that happens is channel partners get the C and D and E level leads, and when they try to convert those opportunities, there are no opportunities there."

Watson and BlueRoads advocate a more equitable approach, starting from the top down.

"Until the head of the direct sales team and the channel chief are true peers and treated with equal weight in the organization, everything else is just about the mechanics of running the channel but without ever solving those harder problems," Watson said. "The channel is treated as an afterthought."

 





Discuss Channel Conflict Still Rampant, Partners Say
 
...of the dealer channel, with no new insights, facts, or strategy to improve the...
It is not surprising to find channel conflict is still alive and well in the...
We make it a policy to "slip in" some inaccurate end user information from time to...
>>> Post your comment now!
 

 
 
>>> More Channel News and Analysis Articles          >>> More By Jessica Davis
 


 
CHANNEL DEEP DIVES
CareersLinux and Unix
Computer NetworkingPrinters
SecuritySMB Partner
StorageSurveys
Solution BuilderMessaging/Collaboration
Dell ResellersMicrosoft Partners

 

 

SIGN UP FOR CHANNEL INSIDER NEWSLETTERS
Reliable, timely information on the business of technology. Sign up now.

RSS SUBSCRIPTIONS
XML
Add Channel News, Product Reviews, Trends and Analysis to your RSS newsreader or My Yahoo!

 

CHANNEL RESOURCE CENTER
HP StorageWorks Scalable NAS is highly available, scalable network-attached storage for any industry solution. To learn how you can take full advantage of fault-tolerant NAS that seamlessly scales capacity and performance, visit: http://www.hp.com/go/scalablenas


Feature Video: What Can Green Do For You?
There are many ways that systems can be run faster or more efficiently, using less energy and thereby reducing costs. Watch now!
Microsoft-hosted solution offers you advanced customer relationship management capabilities without a major investment in IT and staffing.
Try It for free for 30 days!