Whos Driving the Sale Anyway?
So often we VARs hear the sales pitch of the hardware and software manufacturers that it is all about selling “applications” these days. Gone are the days of legacy systems and solutions and now it is all about the apps, they say. In the channel, we attend countless workshops and Webinars that discuss the finer intricacies separating one manufacturer’s solution from another’s. This is all well and good except that in most cases the manufacturer isn’t the one trying to close the sale; the agent or rep is. If that agent represents multiple solutions (as is the case for many), there is great risk in propagating the same old lines that were jotted down in the last month’s worth of product seminars, instead of diving deeper into the client’s needs and gathering the information required to generate a valid resolution to the potential problem.
The fact of the matter is that most manufacturers can only deliver a single option as a solution; the one with their logo on it. In some circumstances, that may prove to be the “one” that fits the best, but that can be discovered only through the consultative sales process. A strong relationship with the client will yield higher closing percentages, as well as additional business opportunities within the same account. Regurgitating the feature or data sheets will yield only the alignment of our manufacturer rep (that is, of course, until the business slows and there are greener channel pastures). Our customers look to us (or should look to us) as industry experts, not as just another intermediate extension of the manufacturers we are authorized to sell. The moment they believe we are just trying to “sell them” is the moment that we lose our credibility.
Since most manufacturers require complete allegiance, it also makes it difficult to be an objective voice for the customer. Most solutions offer the same basic set of applications, making it hard to differentiate those apps that can actually benefit an organization. But after combing through the fluff and identifying a true strategy that augments productive communications, the VAR with multiple options is often chastised or left without much support if there is any hint of defection to a particular manufacturer’s “greater good,” which obviously is to propagate their singular solution. Most VARs tend not to buck the system, recommending the product they are most familiar with, but is that really being the consultant that their customers expect them to be?
Truthfully, we do operate in a maturing industry that has developed exponential amounts of efficient and productive applications. It is astounding to reflect on how much more we can do with so much less. The bandwidth is higher, the processors are faster and more redundant, the user interfaces are more intuitive and easier to use than ever before. With one dialed number, our customers can reach out to us whether we are at the office, in the car, or on the beach, and never realize it was anything other than our desk phone (well, with the exception of the crashing waves, I suppose). In any event, it is a “now” society and we want our customers (and our customer’s customers) to be able to get their needed information as soon as possible. But what about the times when that slips through the cracks? The times when, for some unknown (although I am sure technically explained) reason that the “apps” just don’t work? Will the client forgive us for the misstep? I would submit to you that they would – on the condition we have built the right relationship, friendship even, in the process of being a service provider.
The last thing we want is to lose the prestigious role of being a trusted adviser. I know we hear all about that as well – the importance of cracking the code to be “trusted.” The only code that I know that works successfully is “brick by brick.” Every conversation with a client is an opportunity to lay another brick. Our manufacturing partner’s “application” is their brick, but the channel’s bricks are our ears. The goal is to build a firm foundation and knowing the needs of an organization allows us to lay it down; one application at a time.
I may be a bit old fashioned, but in each opportunity with which I am involved, the thought that constantly crosses my mind is, “my name is attached to this.” When a name is attached, so also is credibility. Sales agents do not always remain with the same company, but the impression left on our contacts from all previous negotiations is like a tattoo; it does not rub off! If we want to remain in the category of “industry expert,” we will have to sort through the manufacturer’s marketing and practice propaganda to be just that. Our professional character should live on, even as “giants” of the industry rise and fall.
Cary Bush is sales director for voice services at Logista, an enterprise VAR focusing on UC technologies. He leads the company’s voice services business development efforts in the southeastern United States. He also is a member of the 2009-10 PHONE+/Channel Partners Conference & Expo Advisory Board.
