Reseller Training
In PC retail (not mass merchants), 67% of everyone that comes into the store ask the sales rep for a recommendation, and 97% follow it.*
That means that 65% of the product that goes out of the store is determined by the product name that comes out of a sales reps’ mouth. With VARs and System Integrators, the ratio is even higher! This is why it
is so important to “brand” the reseller on your product.
In fact, with 65% and more of your influence occurring with the reseller, branding the reseller can be the most effective use of your cash--even greater than branding customers. I used this information once at the
5th largest software company while I was a Channel Manager. We started by reducing the ad budget from $600k to about $190k. We then used the savings to train the resellers and plant seed copies (Not for Resale (NFR)
copies).
We reduced our consumer branding, and let the competitor achieve more “brand” recognition with the customer... and drive them into retail--and then we switched them at the site! Because of this and a few other changes, we effected a 290% growth in the product line in a market category with only a 10% growth rate..
The best way to brand the reseller is to get them up to speed on your product’s competitive positioning, it’s features, unique value to customers, and how it works. This occurs best during one-on-one store/rep
training.
After the reps are trained, usually 15 to 40 minutes is all it takes, the all powerful “reseller recomendation ratio” increases dramatically. In fact, I tested 200 resellers prior to a massive training campaign by calling blind and asking them over the phone which product (in my category) would they recommend. 76% of them choose my #1 competitor, 21% selected my product, and the other 3% went to 3 other vendors (one soon went out of business). After the rep/store training, I called the same 200, got about 125 of the same people on the phone that had seen our training demo, and the ratio that recommended my product was then 71%--almost a complete reversal of our previous ratio with the competitor!
Later, I was asked to talk with the press about branding. The writer wanted to know about how to brand the customer. I could see where he was coming from since branding a customer was critical when I used to be
in pure consumer marketing--especially since almost everything was bought on brand and price, without any help from the store reps (except for the butcher). However, the model was different in a market that
often required help by a store rep to make a decision--in PC retail. I then helped the writer change the direction of his article by explaining that the greatest point to brand should be with the reseller. Of
course, as PC products became more consumerized, some brands became more critical to the consumer (such as Microsoft, Quicken, etc.), but the reseller is still a massive influence in determining which product a PC
customer purchases within many categories.
Seed Copies (Not-For-Resale NFR)
To ensure a longer conversion, I also sell the reseller an NFR copy after they have been trained on the product, usually at a ridicules low cost (usually at my cost of goods, or between $10 and $20 each).
I don’t want to make money off the sales people (who I consider an extension of my own direct sales force), but I do want to ensure that they start using my product. This is because resellers sell and recommend what they know, and they know best what they use.
By the way, if a reseller gets the NFR copy, but doesn’t install it, it doesn’t’ do you any good. I’ve found, from giving away and selling thousands of NFR copies, that the old adage holds true, “What we obtain too
cheaply, we value too little.”
When I sell an NFR copy, versus giving it away, my installation rate increases dramatically (about 40% who received it for free install it, versus over 70% who paid even a small amount install it). The reseller seems to take the NFR copy more seriously, when they’ve got even a little skin in the game.
To train resellers with your own sales force is slow and costly.
It is usually much more cost effective to hire and train an external firm to do this--especially since they can often combine you on a tour with other complementary vendors and cut your overall cost to 1/4 to 1/5th of doing it yourself--plus they can cover more ground, quicker. I was one of 13 that started a reseller training company in 1989--this company grew to over 4,000 people and was used to help launch over 400 products by over 150 vendors including Microsoft (who validated the brand value and ratios), Lotus, Autodesk, WordPerfect, Adobe, IBM, Canon, HP, Corel, Aldus, Mitsubishi, and smaller companies that eventually grew or were acquired like Delrina (Winfax), Samna (Ami Pro became Lotus WordPro), Creative Labs, etc. Follow this link to find companies that can help with reseller training.
* These figures came out of a study by Computer Reseller News.
Years later, at TempReps (which conducted over 1 million promotions for Microsoft, Canon, Lotus, IBM, Corel, Adobe, Autodesk and others), the figure was almost identical.
Market & Promotional Training
Once signed up, VARs need to be trained on:
- The portal site (including how to access, the specific policies (lead policies, deal registration), where to find pricing and support, available demo scripts and PowerPoints, etc.)
- The product (including it’s unique positioning in your space)
- The market (especially the market segments that are most likely to purchase your product), and
- How to effectively promote your product--in that order.
With some complimentary or add-on products, the VARs can go to existing accounts and sell-in your product (account management), for others, they must prospect. Like any sales team, they seldom like to prospect via
cold calls--they prefer leads. If you have a lot of them, then great--they can follow your lead retrieval and follow-up process. If not, then they must run promotions to get their own.
Resellers typically don’t have a marketing department and are normally not very good at generating leads. This is where you can help and it goes a long way to generating partner loyalty. You can provide templates
(e-mails, ads), event schedules and other items that have a proven response with your product to jump start their efforts.
Resources to Help your Partners
If you don’t have marketing templates to help them, you may wish to help them hook up with groups like TechnologyMarketingToolkit.com. Robin Robins
specializes in helping VARs and System Integrators to promote their business and generate leads. She would be the equivalent to Chanimal, but to the VARs, not the vendors. I highly recommend you check out her
services and refer her to your reseller partners. You may wish to even order her CD-ROM to see how she can help your channel partners.
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