Too often, manufacturer and distributors come together with one single objective in mind, which is to increase market share. To achieve this target it is no longer possible to sell products by themselves. It is a simple equation. Many IT products are already treated as commodities, with the accompanying mass marketing and lower margins that these types of products inevitably bring.
In the past, the channel has solely relied on product margin to compensate for numerous levels of support associated with deploying product solutions. But product margins are shrinking since customers can source products more efficiently and only pay for the services they perceive as having the most value.
Most resellers have realized that vendors turn to partners who can also offer solutions and hence more and more resellers are developing their competencies and practices to expand their reach and horizon.
An even encouraging new trend that may begin to see shape in the future are steps that would leverage multi-channel retailing to tap consumer potential and also generate revenue. When properly aligned and leveraged, multiple channels can significantly increase the revenue a reseller can expect to make from an average customer over his lifetime. For the movement to develop and mature, vendors could well do the part of evaluating their methods of rewarding its partners and thus develop programs accordingly that would enhance and laud the reseller’s growth ladder.
Changes in the market climate are resulting in even greater opportunities to grow businesses. Technology is no longer a fashion business, where products change with the seasons. Instead, company executives are looking for a cast-iron return on investment. Maintaining the status quo has become a legitimate business strategy.
In spite of cutting-edge recommendations and admonitions on ways to evolve a successful business especially in the volatile IT industry, the back-to-basic mantra; ‘Sell yourself and your business, not the lowest price’ still holds true.