The Customer Perspective

Much of this discussion has focused on partner compensation. But how do end customers view vendor consolidation? 

Eric Ludwig (pictured) said many customers, especially those at the enterprise level, factor M&A heavily into purchasing decisions. Namely, many want assurance that the platform they sell will still be around by the end of their contract.

For example, Ludwig said one large customer turned down a deal involving a network services provider. Their concern: A private equity investor owned the vendor.

“The client said, ‘I will not buy from this company because they’re owned by PE and I want to a five-year deal. And I know that they’ll be sold but before the time my contract expires,'” Ludwig said. “They think about those things.”

On the other hand, Ludwig’s team closed a NICE InContact deal with an enterprise customer that was looking for stability. These former Intrado customers had been impacted by Intrado’s sale of its customer base to Fusion Connect and the resulting end of Intrado’s proprietary platform.

As a result, customers wanted to know if Nice would be bought.

“They didn’t want to find themselves in the same position within that next contract period. And NICE was a good fit because they’re well-capitalized, they’ve got great financials, they’ve got a strong leadership, they’ve made a commitment to the contact center market, both in the services and in the product space, and they’re not laying people off,” Ludwig said. “That’s big for a lot of clients and for us as partners, depending upon what that client needs and where they lie.”

Ludwig summed up five categories that partners should help their customers understand as leadership, investments, resources, service levels and financial.

“What am I going to pay, and are they going to be able to support me the way they have? Those are five really important parts that we ask and clients should ask,” Ludwig said.