D&H to Engage SMB VARs with New ASCII Elite Advisory Group

For the group’s first meeting, the ASCII Elite advisers will discuss their business and market challenges; thoughts on solution-based areas such as cloud, security, and digital signage; and training needs.

PRESS RELEASE — HARRISBURG, PA – July 11, 2018 – D&H Distributing, a major provider of SMB and consumer technologies to the North American high-tech channel, announces the launch of its latest solution provider engagement initiative, the ASCII Elite Group of Technology Solutions Advisors. This group of approximately a dozen predominantly SMB solution providers will convene quarterly, with additional communications as needed, to discuss their real-world needs and challenges with D&H executives. For the group’s first meeting, the ASCII Elite advisors will discuss their business and market challenges; thoughts on solution-based areas such as cloud, security, and digital signage; and training needs.

D&H has been conducting similar engagement activities over the past three years to discover the best ways to help solution providers address the unique trials of this ever-changing market, meeting at D&H’s conference events to collaborate and brainstorm on how the distributor can enhance its support and business experience. The company began this process with its “VAR Track” group, involving a selection of customers in half-day engagement sessions, and quickly adding an education market-specific “K-12 Advisory Group.”

The distributor is leveraging its thriving relationship with ASCII to create the “ASCII Elite” group, since that association so accurately typifies the majority of D&H’s customers. The group is comprised mainly by solution providers and MSPs selling into small and medium business markets, including regional offices in verticals such as healthcare, government, education, financial services, real estate, and law.

The group will provide direction for D&H’s programs, educational offerings, and services. For example, D&H’s new Solutions & Services program was recently launched to deliver resources that solution providers have traditionally had difficulty providing on their own. That roster of services was shaped in part by feedback from D&H’s VAR Track and K-12 advisory sessions, which engaged solution providers in conversations about the support they need most.

“We fully embrace this opportunity to involve representatives from ASCII’s membership in D&H’s VAR engagement process,” said Doug Young, COO and senior vice president at The ASCII Group. “Our relationship has only intensified over time, as illustrated by D&H’s consistently outstanding performance in our distribution survey. Our members derive great benefit from the relationship, due to D&H’s ability to cater its programs so acutely to the SMB marketplace. We’re honored to have members contribute to the direction of D&H’s programs and initiatives through the ASCII Elite advisory group.”

“Customer enablement has become an essential priority at D&H,” said Peter DiMarco, vice president of VAR sales at D&H and one of driving executives of the company’s engagement initiatives. “Since establishing the VAR Track sessions several years ago, we’ve been able to discover some authentic customer needs in real time. We quickly adjusted our programs and services to address those topics. The advisory groups make us a more responsive, agile, and effective partner. We’re excited to work with ASCII in this truly productive collaboration.”

“The ASCII Elite advisory group is a terrific concept, allowing solution providers like myself to express their needs directly, and to benefit from the results of our own feedback,” said Ryan Bowman, sales manager at TCW Computer Systems, an ASCII solution provider that’s a member of the Elite advisors. “It gives us more immediate access to …