Walking into a trade show with Marie Evans is a great way to meet a lot of the industry's security resellers - and very quickly.
Having worked with them closely in the security space for the past six years, Evans has built a strong rapport with many of the industry's security folk due to her easygoing nature and matter-of-fact approach.
Described as a 'character' and often known to step out on the dance floor, she is now working with security vendor, Marshal8e6, as its Asia Pacific marketing manager.
"I'm really enjoying working for a smaller organisation as well as a smaller regional group," explained Evans.
"It's making my job fun, knowing I have the support of my peers. They are a great group of people and the culture is very supportive. It's nice to be appreciated."
Learning curve
Having already enjoyed an interesting career, in May Evans will celebrate 20 years in the channel.
She is a great example of channel folklore: once the industry is in your blood - (which is 99 percent of the time) you will never want to leave it.
Her first job was working in marketing at reseller Computerland.
Giving her an insight that will continue to serve her for years to come, she also worked at Optima
Technology Solutions from 2003 to 2005 as marketing communications manager.
"What a sad story now, but in its "heyday" Optima was THE PLACE to work, a young and vibrant team delivering on time, every time.
My favourite memories include creating its monthly catalogue for the channel and distributing all 1.2 million copies of them," she said.
Last October Optima gave in to a tough economic situation and called in the administrators. At the time Evans told CRN the market was really going to miss it.
"What concerns me is that if Optima can't make it then nobody can. Chairman and managing director Cornel Ung has always been a dedicated channel supporter. He was always a good operator and knew what his partners wanted."
After a few stints in resellerland and at companies such as Lucent Technologies and Acer, Evans spent a few years working for Trend Micro, where she grew the company's channel and attended a range of trade shows, as well as events such as the Annual Microsoft Partner Conference and Ingram Micro's Expotech.
Attending a stand with Evans you get an appreciation of how important it can be to resellers to be able to have access to their vendor representatives for a whole host of information.
Niche focus
Seeking a change in her career she joined specialist security vendor, Marshal8e6. Primarily her role is focused on supporting the company's channel partners and helping them grow their Marshal8e6 business across the region.
"We are a 100 percent channel organisation, so anything we can do to help grow, educate and support partners is a key focus," said Evans.
"It's been a busy start at Marshal8e6 and already we've kicked off a number of initiatives to start the business off after the merger in November."
Evans is focusing her time and energy on raising the profile of specific partners as well as developing a lead generation campaign and a recruitment drive for channel partners.
As marketing manager it is also her role to educate the market by increasing the end-users' understanding of what Marshal8e6 can provide for businesses.
"We have already seen some great results, in particular partners are regularly contributing to end-user publications and CRN.
"We have been able to average five qualified leads per partner. It's great because I have been able to point out the benefits of becoming a partner and managed to grow the channel base from 700 to 2600 in a short amount of time."
Sense of security
A natural in the security space, Evans enjoys the challenge of working in the sector and finds it a positive environment to be in - from both a vendor perspective and reseller view.
"Everyone needs security! It's an easy market for partners to make money in - the margins are huge. Happy partners make happy sales - which makes my job easier.
"People still don't understand it all, but we can help them - I love educating the end-users."
Evans finds that one of the most appealing aspects of working in the channel is how honest the partners are.
Having clear communication makes it easier to solve any problems and get the job done to everyone's satisfaction.
"What I love about working with my reseller partners is their ability to 'tell me how it is'. They don't hold back! They know their stuff, they are confident at delivering their message and they are professionals. That makes it a pleasure to go to work every day," explained Evans.
"I try and work with the partners to ensure any campaign we do with them is targeted to their needs. Getting their input makes a big difference. All campaigns these days are tracked through URL links, downloads, responses and of course final conversion to sale. It's all about return on investment."
Life is to be enjoyed
Working should not be a chore, it should be something that you enjoy doing. Evans really enjoys working with the channel and likes going to work, with her team as well as her partners.
Cultivating relationships is particularly important in an industry as competitive as the security space. When asked the secret of working well with her partners Evans is quick to quip "take them to the pub - all partners enjoy a drink!".
"Really though, it's up to the individual's personality. I've been told I'm outgoing, easy to talk to and a good listener. Maybe that's the secret. It's amazing how a drink does open up the channel of communication though!"
Evans believes that training and education is important for people working within all aspects of the channel, whether you are a vendor, distributor or reseller. One of the activities she loves organising for partners is training sessions.
"At the last company I worked for, we conducted regular training sessions that primarily had a sales and technical focus.
"The last lot of training we held, I ran a marketing training session alongside the sales and technical forums. It was really well received and I enjoyed hearing from the partners "now, this stuff I can use". I look forward to sharing my marketing expertise with the Marshal8e6 partners in the future."
Evans is passionate about her job and cares about trying to help her partners do well. She has a few simple tips for resellers:
1. Keep one step ahead of your competitors
Find out what your successful competitors are doing and then use them as a gauge. Offer value to your customers, show you are worth more to them than just being a point of transaction.
2. Limit your product and services range
You'll be out of pocket before you know it if you are offering everything on the market. Keep your hardware and software purchases to a limit and do not overstock. Simply offer the best and most cost-effective solution to resolve your customer's issues.
3. Keep your staff trained
Employing confident staff is a start. Vendors offer free training, so take them up on it. Keep your staff skilled and you will see the results.
Channelling in
Having worked for both resellers and vendors, Evans is in a good position to help her customers and has a fair idea of what is needed to work on the vendor side of the fence.
"Ideally, someone who has worked in the supply chain would be a perfect candidate. This way, they know what to expect as a reseller or a distributor.
"I find all vendors can be taxing: too much red tape, lots of justification and a high expectation in qualified sales leads. Unless you can a) cope with red tape, b) justify your spend and c) create quality sales leads - you might need to look outside the industry," she said.
It can also be difficult for a woman working in an often male-dominated environment, some have said you need to be very thick-skinned as a woman to work in the channel, but for others it can have its advantages. Evans does not even find it an issue.
"It is definitely a positive. Men have a different approach to situations. It is always good to get their feedback or hear their thoughts on a specific matter, but it always seems to be a different view, and an eye opener. Although now, there are a lot more women in the industry and we sort of stick together," she explained.
Final thought
Evans does not know where she would be if she was not working somewhere in the industry. "The thought of 'where would you be if you weren't in the channel?' it really stumped me. I've been in the channel for 20 years this May and I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I love the channel - and they know it."
When pressed, Evans decided that she would only want to be on a tropical island, sipping on an icy cold pina colada!
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