Become the market leader

While many resellers have a strong sales strategy, they often fall down when it comes to marketing.

Mistakenly, many believe sales and marketing are synonymous. But marketing is not sales and it is imperative that channels work with business partners to develop and understand the power of marketing.

Resellers need to create a coherent marketing strategy and formulate a plan that is focused on their audience and appeals to their customers.

Marketing is not just producing brochureware in a scattergun approach; it is about establishing relations with customers because long-term relationships are most important. It is easier to retain a customer than get a new customer using strategic marketing.

While there are some very savvy resellers using web-based marketing and sophisticated graphics with online multimedia packages to create a story, at the other end of the scale some think they are fulfilling the marketing imperative through telemarketing activities that date back to the 1980s.

Marketing is the more strategic aspect of the process to drive the interest, desire and action of the consumer, whereas selling is going out and clinching the deal.

Channel Dynamics is a boutique channel consulting firm, specialising in assisting ICT (Information & Communications Technology) companies to sell more effectively, through channel sales training programs and marketing strategies.

Cam Wayland, Channel Dynamics director, said many fall into the trap when resellers try to use the same matrix for a driver as that for the vendor. He said there will always be a mismatch of focus because vendor and reseller worlds are quite different.

“Vendors might be good at marketing and they have marketing professionals, but they do not use the same matrix as resellers,” Wayland explained.

“Both parties are very different. Channels have to understand what vendors’ objectives are and then see if they align with their own objectives.”

Wayland said while resellers are not typically good at marketing as vendors, they have an invaluable relationship with customers.

“Vendors want to leverage this because they lack the information and access to customers,” said Wayland. “Wherever there is a customer at whatever size there will always be a reseller with most favoured status.”

Wayland explained that vendors want to know who the key contacts are and all about the customer.

“They want to know whether they use brand X or Y and if they have standardised A-B servers etc,” he said. “If they are an A-B vendor they will want to target that customer and this is knowledge that only a reseller will know.”

Maree Lowe, director at reseller ASI Solutions, echoed Wayland and said that resellers must follow a coherent marketing plan that is focused and targeted to their customers.

“Channels must work with business partners to develop a marketing plan that will work for them,” Lowe said.

“You have to address what is important, for instance, direct sales. You have to know the customer’s business and if you understand that business you are going to be spot on.”

Lowe said it is vital to not only understand the target market, but to know who is who in the market and be flexible enough to move with changes in the market conditions as they arise.

“The way we have to market, as with every other reseller, is to continually change the way we do things and change depending on the market,” she explained.

While it may be obvious to some, Lowe said that doing their homework will help resellers hone that all-important message.

“As a reseller you can waste a lot of money and energy conveying the wrong message to the wrong person,” she said.

“The message must include what benefits the product provides for the business and it is very important to make sure you are talking to the right person, such as the purchasing manager.”

Lowe said everyone, when spending on marketing, needs to get a return on their investment.

“It is important that resellers use the right methods in marketing to identify the right decision-makers and choose the medium that the customer will respond to.

“For instance, there are different ways to market at a CIO and CEO level,” she said.

“There is not too much purpose inviting them to something more suited to the IT network administrator. What they really want to see is a return on investment and flexibility of procurement systems.”