Compaq Sets Up Glasgow Centre

Resellers still uneasy about vendor?s operation to handle direct sales

Compaq will base its direct selling operation in a $25 million call centre in Glasgow, which is due to open for business in five weeks? time.

The call centre, which will become the focus of all Compaq?s pre-sales support activities, will employ 250 people.

But the staff will not be employed by Compaq ? they will come from two outsourcing companies. Scottish Telecom subsidiary Teledata will handle incoming enquiries, and outgoing sales calls will be dealt with by Merchants, a telesales specialist that has worked on previous marketing initiatives with Compaq.

Jonathon Adams, Compaq commercial business unit director, will be responsible for setting up and running the centre, which is the culmination of Compaq?s Expresso project. Expresso sought to examine how the vendor could break into new markets and form closer links with customers.

?Compaq has always been a very leveraged company,? said Adams. ?We use the best of breed to retain our position as market leaders. This call centre will be a massive help to our channel, after all, it is providing new routes to market.?

But dealers are still not reassured by Compaq?s statements that it is loyal to the channel, despite the fact it has said it will sell direct in some circumstances. One Compaq reseller, who wished to remain anonymous, said: ?Compaq might as well just go out and buy itself a dealership ? it?ll be putting enough of us out of business.?

The call centre will become fully operational in November and will employ about 20 people a month between now and then. Adams said Compaq will consider taking the call handling functions in house, but will only do so if it results in a commercial benefit.