PinPoint lends a hand with sales

Newly-formed outfit will help to put the channel in touch with the right people

Graham Fell: We do not charge the earth for our services and there is always someone at hand

Resellers struggling to generate new sales are being offered a helping hand by a newly formed outfit comprising seasoned industry staff.

Founded in January, outsourced sales and marketing provider PinPoint Associates aims to put the channel in touch with the right people and prospective clients to boost their sales in a tough climate.

Its team includes former Intel, HP, Cisco, Oracle and Gartner staff.

Graham Fell, EMEA managing director of PinPoint Associates, who was formerly EMEA business manager for wireless competencies at HP, said: “All of our staff are from senior backgrounds ­ we do not employ sales and marketing people with no experience.

“Because we are a remote company with a network of specialists across Europe, it means we do not charge the earth for our services and there is always someone at hand.”

Paul Fennemore, managing partner for business management consultancy firm BusinessZone, PinPoint’s first UK client, said: “One issue that repeatedly comes up is that sales teams for high-technology solutions are often lacking in confidence to approach senior executives in their prospective accounts. Major sale opportunities are frequently missed as a result.

“In times of difficult trading conditions, VARs and integrators really need to up their game in this respect so as to generate incremental business. This is where I have found PinPoint comes in.”

Alastair Edwards, senior analyst at Canalys, said outsourcing sales and marketing makes sense for resellers as it is expensive to employ senior staff in-house.

However, he added: “When employing a third-party agency, resellers need to know that leads will not overlap and that they will not be competing with other clients. In the current economic climate, VARs are looking to offload costs.”