Vendors must get real about protecting partners

Antony Byford says resellers will need more help through 2012

Many VARs that have survived the tough times so far could well be wondering where their next sale is coming from, and it will be more important than ever in 2012 for vendors to protect resellers and set realistic expectations.

This does not just mean providing good front-end margins, bid desk and deal-registration schemes and back-end rebates, although all of these are important. Vendors must also protect resellers from the prospect of enforced discounting and potentially dramatic currency fluctuations.

It also means not asking resellers to commit to unrealistic sales targets in exchange for higher discounts or achieving accredited status.

Unfortunately, this is one thing that most vendors may find difficult to accept. But, while we all want to be ambitious and drive up sales, we have to be realistic too.

Not every business can grow faster than the market.

Most channel programmes now provide deal-registration protection, and if you are an accredited reseller, you often benefit from extra rebates on monthly or quarterly sales.

But it is also important to protect resellers and distributors from other factors. Prices should be consistent so resellers can work with the distributor that serves them best.

Keeping pricing stable and minimising the potential for overzealous discounting is not easy – and you can never have total control over market forces.

But there are measures that can be taken. We publish an updated price list every month and every accredited reseller has a designated distributor.

Prices quoted in sterling may keep partner quotes stable. This is particularly important in the public sector, where delivery may be over months.

Of course, to win deals such as that resellers may need to apply for special bids, and when they do it's important the vendor's response is swift and precise.

For the reseller, this is another advantage of working in local currency; it means the price won't change between the quote and the signing of the deal.

When there is a real prospect of new business, a really robust deal-registration scheme is good too.

Resellers need to be able to trust their vendor partners on that count.

Perhaps most importantly of all, though, vendors need to be realistic about the targets they are setting for their own teams and channel partners.

If vendors can protect their partners' businesses a little bit more, they will help resellers to stay in business and start investing in the future.

Antony Byford is UK and Ireland channel sales manager at ZyXel