Vendors dumped in channel Var wars

Report reveals channel conflict as resellers call for fairer pricing and better communication

One third of European resellers have ditched vendors because of channel conflict, a Romtec report reveals. And over 60 per cent have got into turf fights with their suppliers? direct sales teams, according to Romtec.

Resellers pressed for more clearly defined channel policies, equitable pricing, and better communication.

Channels in Europe 96, compiled from interviews with over 200 resellers and 50 vendors, paints a bleak picture of communication between vendors and resellers. Reseller support and returns policies were key areas where resellers felt they were being let down by the vendor. Distributor support is even worse, according to the survey.

Joint author Kathy Monk said vendors ?must improve their support performance if they are to become better partners and gain competitive edge?. And they also needed to pay attention to ?minimising the serious implications? of channel conflict.

Eighty per cent of distributors in the survey had introduced another supplier or ?defocused their activity? because of channel conflict.

But distributors are also villains of the piece, Jonathan Chapple, chairman of Equanet, the Chessington-based reseller, argues: ?The problem comes not from the manufacturers but from the distributors ? they?re the ones taking away the dealers? lunch.

?The real problem is that a lot of distributors are trading much harder with users than they would publicly admit to. Many specialist distributors in particular need to work with the reseller on a specialised product, and end up going straight to the user and taking business away from the reseller,? he said.

One dealer who wished to stay anonymous said: ?There are certain vendors, such as Dell, who go fishing for resellers, then dump them when a bit of business comes in, but this is nothing new. Resellers who don?t know this yet need to wise up a bit.?