Partners to pay for CHS support bands

Distributor introduces four-band service charges and launches Web site design service for dealers

CHS Electronics is conforming to the industry standard by charging resellers for technical support as the distributor outlines plans to set up Web sites for its customers.

The distributor launched the initiative at Sellteach on 15 June, setting up Academia as its services division and announcing the Support Plus programme for resellers.

Following its acquisition of Merisel, CHS has been investigating whether to expand its services beyond training around Microsoft and Novell.

CHS has introduced four bands ? bronze, silver, gold and platinum ? for resellers to get pre and post-technical support to ensure that they get guaranteed response times. The costs range from #175 to #1,500, depending on the number of calls required. The lowest band ensures a query will be answered within five hours.

CHS has become the first UK distributor to offer resellers an opportunity to develop and tailor their own Web sites, as part of a joint development with Microsoft. The distributor will design and maintain Web sites for resellers.

Eventually CHS will set up a Web site for resellers, enabling them to place orders electronically and purchase goods either via a credit card or using the reseller?s account number. The Web site is expected to be up and running during the third quarter. Resellers will be able to view stock availability as well as product information.

Peter Rigby, networking general manager at CHS, said: ?In Europe, setting up a Web site is not yet a priority for distributors, but we are aiming to provide a unique service and be the first company to offer it.?

As part of CHS? more aggressive push into services, the distributor has also set up an engineer resource, whereby dealers can use the distributor?s 150 engineers to sell into their accounts if they do not have the resources to do so.