In the end, your best partners are those who stay with you till the end. The subject of long-term business relationships is a huge, yet delicate task. It takes a certain amount of time and energy in building it strong, unlike fragile relationships that develop cracks within a few months of partnership, as is visible in the channel today.
p____p In this context, it would be better to see vendors focus on how to maintain an objective relationship with its partner/disty that it services over an extended period of time. Managed correctly and serviced impeccably, it’s the long-standing partner who helps the vendor to grow its business.
p____p It’s a better practice to honor long-term commitments instead of dumping old partners and searching for new ones. What the channel requires is the quality and value of relationship that the vendor has to maintain. A healthy relationship between the channel and vendor is the biggest
competitive advantage over other competition. Strangely, this rule seems to have been ignored by most vendors in the channel industry.
p____p Successful businesses have always grown on building relationships, and in a service industry such as IT channel, relationships revolve around value and trust. When cautiously handled, a long-term relationship is of great
benefit to both, and practicing the methods of nurturing them is vital for business growth. The big lesson in building a business is not to be afraid to go your own way. It can be the key to establishing and maintaining a
profitable channel relationship.
p____p In going against outdated practises, a close working relationship and trust between the channel and vendor goes a long way. If only vendors maintained open communications and displayed honesty during mistakes, they would earn themselves much more loyalty then they do with aggressive
marketing strategies or flashy schemes.