Lenovo woos dissatisfied resellers

Vendor improves availability of discounted stock and ups direct marketing spend

Lenovo has urged disillusioned resellers to return to the fold after unveiling a series of changes designed to return the channel to the heart of its strategy.

As reported by CRN, the vendor will now allow distributors to sell stock for special bids from their warehouses.

This means resellers can get hold of discounted stock within 24 hours rather than three weeks, bringing Lenovo in line with larger rivals such as HP.

Meanwhile, the China-based firm claims it is increasing investment in direct marketing to secure more leads for resellers.

The vendor has also renewed its incentive programme to include high-end as well as SME products and will now pay rebates within a month of the quarter-end to help resellers’ cashflow. Resellers previously had to wait up to three months.

The vendor will continue to serve large multi-national clients direct and allow SMEs and consumers to buy from its web site.

But Vincent Fauquenot, who will head up the newly created Channel Partners organisation in western Europe, said the overhaul was a major shift in strategy.
“Our channel is where we are putting our money, our development efforts, and where we expect the growth to come from,” he said.

Lenovo also claims to have increased its UK channel headcount by 15-20 per cent.
Neil Berville, Lenovo’s executive director for the UK, Ireland and Benelux, said: “We would encourage those resellers that have given up through frustration to come back to the table.”

Rob Tomlin, sales director at Lenovo distributor ISI, said: “Partners need to be convinced that Lenovo is the right vendor to work with, which we will invest time and money into over the next few months.”