Symantec flags Australian trial of lead-generation system

Security software vendor Symantec is set to trial a lead-generation system for the 500 Australian resellers on its partner program – a move the company claims is long overdue.

John Donovan, MD at Symantec Australia and New Zealand, said the vendor would begin trials of an internet-based lead generation and management system here in early May. The system had been proving successful in the US.

The plan is to set up a deal registration system allowing Symantec to bundle its 'large number' of sales leads and give resellers responsibility for managing those leads, he said.

'I think it's long overdue. We're taking on a more formal model for allocating leads out to the partners,' Donovan said.

Just 'a handful' of partners would be invited to participate in the trial, but the aim is to eventually roll out participation to all 500 Australian partners enrolled on Symantec's partner program, he said.

'It has been something that has been running as a trial in the US for six months now, that has been pretty successful,' Donovan said.

Dollar figures reflecting its success were 'confidential', he said.

Donovan said it 'makes sense' for the resellers to have more responsibility over the system. It might help keep things fairer, he said, as Symantec would also be able to better monitor individual resellers' performance.

Administrators would be able to see if a reseller had registered for 200 leads but only called two of them, for example.

Donovan said the trial was essentially part of Symantec's certification and development program for software providers, including smaller resellers and developers. The company had used two-tier – direct and indirect – distribution since starting up in Australia three or four years ago, he said.

Symantec's partner program is managed in tiers, starting with three or four person operations and moving up to larger transaction resellers and local software partners. All resellers on the program would have access to the online tools, he said.

One US Symantec reseller, Chips Computer Consulting, has said that, following the introduction of the lead-management program, some five to ten percent of leads sourced by Symantec were resulting in sales appointments for the partner. That five to ten percent represented a modest increase, that partner said.