Making small talk

Ideal Hardware's Think SME event raised some interesting issues regarding UK SMEs.

When I was speaking to a reseller last week at Ideal Hardware's Think SME event - supported by vnunet.com's sister titles Computer Reseller News and Computing - at the impressive Madejski Stadium in Reading, I heard about some of the problems facing vendors dealing with the SME market.

Apparently, a vendor of his was very keen to understand the market better and went out with the reseller to an SME that made animal feeds.

When the pair turned up they saw a man hosing down the yard. This was the owner-manager. When the vendor and the reseller went for a meeting in a nearby Portakabin, the vendor was encouraged to hear that the SME had purchased technology for his business; the problem was he hadn't plugged it in.

It was at this point, the reseller told me, that the vendor thought it was perhaps inappropriate to mention the USPs and functionality of his product.

It is because of situations like this that many vendors - such as Hewlett-Packard (HP), Brocade, Microsoft and Veritas, which were supporting Think SME - are turning to the channel to help them sell technology to a community that represents the majority of businesses in the UK, and contributes a huge proportion of the country's gross national product.

Smart vendors understand that many SMEs like to buy from people they trust and, in IT purchasing decisions, this is often the VAR.

But not all vendors understand the value of the channel, or of the SME market. Some have been too arrogant to approach this important sector, preferring to win high-profile blue-chip firms as clients.

These vendors should remember that HP started out in a garage in the US. The SME you ignored in the past could be the HP of the future and, if you get in at the right stage, there is a chance that your business may grow in line with the SMEs you support.