Getting into the winning habit
Winning a Channel Award is a trick companies are keen to repeat. Simon Meredith speaks to last year's winners
Winning a Channel Award is not something that is achieved easily. A well-thought-out entry is required, coupled with good support from customers and the industry. To achieve that, channel firms need to have delivered good service and results throughout the year. Previous winners would no doubt agree that coming out on top is worth the effort as it provides not just prestige, but also a real boost to the business.
Fujitsu Siemens Computers (FSC) has won both the Systems Vendor and the overall Vendor of the Year awards for the past two years. The company’s marketing director, Gary Fowle, said that, although the rewards of winning are not easy to measure in real terms, they are very significant.
“Winning both the Systems and the Vendor of the Year awards for two years in succession has made a tremendous difference to the way FSC is perceived right across the channel,” he said.
“I think that before we won these awards we were regarded by companies outside our engaged partners as a second-string player in the systems market. Winning both awards two years in a row has put us firmly among the leaders, and that is where we belong.”
Fowle believes that winning the Channel Awards is one of the reasons why FSC is gaining ground on its competitors, and that it underlines the close partnership and trust that exists between the company and its partners. He thinks the awards will carry even more weight if FSC can manage to retain one, or both, of them for a third year.
“If we were to win again, it would say even more about how well we work with the channel and how consistent we are in our commitment to resellers,” said Fowle.
“I don’t believe any vendor is more committed to its partners than FSC. When we win these awards, it shows that the channel believes that too. In the end it’s about trust, belief and commitment; winning a Channel Award shows we are a business that our partners can trust, believe in and commit to.”
Computer 2000 knows all about the value of retention. It has won the Distributor of the Year award for eight successive years, and will undoubtedly be just as determined to win again this year. Indeed, for companies that have claimed the same award on more than one occasion, the incentive to win again is probably even greater.
“Once you have won it becomes rather addictive,” said Nick Culley, managing director of Midwich. “It certainly helps when we meet prospective suppliers. It is concrete evidence of our value-added services and shows that we play a vital role in the supply chain for our vendors and customers. The Channel Awards are widely respected and our award successes can make us a more attractive business partner.”
Of course, the success of the winners makes competitors all the more determined to claim the awards for themselves. They work harder every year to win support from customers and the industry, and the number of votes cast each year has increased steadily over the years . They also try to do more to earn those votes throughout the year, driving higher standards for the whole channel.
Computerlinks is another company that has won awards in successive years, although until last year it did so as Unipalm. David Ellis, director of e-security, professional services and training at the company, said that on top of its many other benefits, winning the Security Distributor of the Year award has helped the company manage the transition to its new name.
“Winning an award has been extremely useful when talking to new customers and vendors over the past year,” Ellis said.
“It lends credibility to what we are telling potential partners that have had no direct experience of working with us. It has also been invaluable in raising our profile after our name change last year.”
Repeating the trick is just as valuable for resellers, said Jack Orton, marketing manager at Secon, the security specialist which has held the Specialist Reseller award for the past two years. In fact, it makes the business even more driven to win again, he claimed.
“Winning a CRN award two years running has been a real boost for the company and provides a quality benchmark to aim for. Ensuring that we win for a third time is a very high priority,” Orton told CRN.
“It will not only show that we are maintaining our high standards but will help validate the decisions made over the past year and the direction the business is heading in.”
First-time winners also see real benefits to their business. Enta Technologies won the Systems and Components Distributor category last year. Group commercial vice president Jon Atherton said this showed the marketplace that Enta is a real contender in the big league of UK distribution.
“Winning an award has had a very significant impact on our business. It put Enta right up there with the best of them,” he said.
It is not just being a Channel Awards winner that makes a company a success, of course, but it does have a major impact said James Ward, managing director of Hammer, last year’s winner in the Storage Distributor category.
“On the one hand, it is impossible to attribute your standing in the market to one particular activity. Having said that, there is no doubt that the accolade of receiving a CRN award has enhanced our profile in the industry. It is a stamp of recognition from a wide range of customers, partners, peers and suppliers, and that is invaluable,” Ward said.
It is important to make the most of the achievement in the year that follows your success. Ward noted.
“Firstly, enjoy the moment. Then make the most of everything that comes from it the heightened profile, the praise, the success and the priceless knowledge that it has been voted for by your customers, which is a huge accolade to the business,” he said.
Atherton added: “My advice to anyone who wins would be to make sure that everyone who contributed to your win understands that they were a part of that success, and also that everyone who works with you or buys from you knows that you have been recognised in this way and that they understand why you have won.
“It will mean that they respect you more and expect more of you but that takes your business forward and that has to be good.”
Making sure that current and prospective customers know you are a winner is particularly important for resellers, said Richard Cook, managing director of last year’s SME Reseller of the Year, Blue Chip.
“Winning is what you make of it. We ensured that we received maximum publicity about the award win,” Cook said. “This included publicity in a variety of regional business publications, throughout the web site and at the footer of all email signatures and e-shots.”
Cook added that the award contributed and supported the activities of the business and raised awareness of Blue Chip with decision makers in other companies.
You should also follow up on your achievement by making sure you are a contender again next time around, according to Atherton.
“We were nominated in two categories again this year so we have shown ourselves to be firmly established as one of the UK’s leading distributors. It has made a difference in terms of the way both vendors and resellers see us,” Atherton said.
“They respect us more, but they also expect more from us. In that sense, it has raised the bar for us and motivated us to take the business forward even further.”
Ellis added: “Any company that wins an award should definitely shout about it. It is something the company can be very proud of.”
Indeed, aside from the shift in perception that it brings, Channel Awards winners cite the boost to confidence and pride and the positive impact that it has on motivation as the main benefits, whether they have won for the first time or on several occasions.
There is no doubt that winning has real value which is why those companies that have won in the past are so keen to win again. All they can do, however, is try their utmost to deliver good products and services throughout the year and then, during the voting stages, encourage their customers to vote for them.
With the voting now closed, it only remains for the judges to meet and consider which of the shortlisted companies, in light of the votes they have received, deserve to come out on top this year. Whether the usual suspects or the new kids on the block will prevail remains to be seen, but past winners will certainly have been canvassing for votes.
According to the judges, the 2007 Channel Awards feature the most broad-ranging and representative shortlists that have ever been seen. There are 92 companies on the shortlists and only 21 awards to be won, so 22 November looks set to be an interesting night.