How a Company Selects the right VARs
(Speaking Topics for Corporate Events)
There’s 10,000 Global VARs out there in your space - that’s lots of different fish in the ocean...which ones are right for you?
You’re a new product, right? And you’re different from other products, right? Those other technologies have well qualified VARs tailored to represent them as the trusted advisor… & so should yours.
You might think this would be a daunting task because there are so many truly well-qualified VARs in the channel… And you’re right…
But your product is bound to be specific to a subset of the following
10 criteria which will funnel->filter->dispense->select->sift-->>produce the right team of Channel Resellers
that’s perfect for your new product..
The VAR Funnel
Does your product need a VAR:
1) To be Engineer led?
Yours may be a design-in product with complexities in the architecture that will require engineering savvy & eventually some certifications.
2) To be Professional Services driven?
PS reigns King these days. If your product drags along lots of them, you’ll want a VAR with a strong bench.
3) With a specific market segmentation – i.e. SMB , Mid-market, or Enterprise?
Easy – the end user target of your HW, SW, or licenses have to be the same target as your VARs.
4) To have an Alliances connection?
Good VARs are already working with your tech partners. They will WANT to add your product. If you sizzle with the tech partner’s product, you’ll sizzle with the VAR who sells it too.
5) To work with your OEMs?
This criteria applies to the possibility of your product being re-sold by HPE, CISCO, Dell, IBM etc.
6) To have specific Geo coverage?
Simple - your channel choices need to cover the markets you want to penetrate.
7) Willing to make the investment required to sign up?
Expertise, certification, heavy design-in, NFR (not-for-resale) units, aka significant skin-in-the-game may be required.
8) To work with your selected Distributor?
If you have selected a distributor strategy, then your big ocean of VARs has just become more concise to choose from.
9) Categorized as a DMR (if needed, considering above factors)?
(DMRs) Direct Manufacture Resellers can provide a huge lift with certain products across all markets…maybe yours.
10) Categorized as a National (if needed, considering above factors)?
A National partner may take more investment of resources to gain mindshare, but will in turn be able to sell across all your geo’s.
Make sense?
Here’s some Channel Comments from around the Globe:
New York: Says a National VAR’s NYC VP, “The marketplace is filled with technologies for us to sell to the Fortune 50, and we are getting requests daily. We embrace any product vendor who’s as committed as we are.”
Los Angeles: Top sales producer, “We can’t just settle for the same old – we want to lead the way the IT world solves their problems. Give us exciting new products any day."
Chicago: Super-Regional VAR’s Sales Director, “We are a leader in the delivery of Professional Services (PS) – we crave the product that brings the margin-rich PS... This wakes us up in the morning!”
Minnesota: DMR Sales Leader, “People look to us for new technologies & solution sets. Our business gives us great access to deliver well-priced total solutions, and we want to work with emerging technologies that help us deliver.”
Brazil: Cloud Provider & VAR VP of Sales, “Sempre queremos produtos confiáveis, especialmente dos EUA, com suporte e boa reputação. (We always want reliable products, especially from the US with support and a good reputation.)”
..stay tuned for Learning from Experts who work for us (especially when they are carrying a rifle) - coming up next!
Leadership Consulting
I am available for speaking engagements & corporate events on Global Leadership, Business, & Travel - on this topic & all my featured Blogs!..
...contact me @ armyrangeratMIT@gmail.com