A partner will help a vendor to extend the presence that they have. A vendor can then hire another direct rep and then build a team. The vendor will be outsourcing sales to others in this instance. One direct rep can easily cover a huge amount of territory, but a partner rep can cover multiple partners, each of who have their own salespeople and therefore can cover a much bigger area.
At the end of the day, partners can give many different benefits to vendors. They can provide broad coverage on a geographical basis or they can offer deep knowledge of the industry. This can range from integration to consumer support and even local intimacy.
Partners can Offer a Wider Geographical Coverage
Manufacturers and vendors are continually on the hunt for good partners who can help them to not only expand their coverage but also delve into new industries. If you want to do this with your direct team alone, then you would need to continually hire new people. When you bring on new partners, you are growing your coverage through easier and more effective means. Why is this the case? Because every partner has a team of other partners who they support. Every partner will in-turn have their own team of sellers.
If you bring on a direct representative, then this will add a single person to your team. If you hire a single representative, on the other hand, you have the potential to bring on thousands of sellers at any one time. Your direct-hire may have a single area of expertise, but partners can cover more. If you bring on more partners, then you will be able to cover a huge range of products, areas, and industries. This gives your direct team the chance to put their entire focus and effort into the sectors which are going to bring about the greatest amount of revenue potential. The bigger your network is, the better. 92% of people are willing to engage with a sales professional who is known as being an industry leader.
Vendors often ask whether it is best to recruit VARs (value-added resellers) who have vertical expertise, or a broad reach geographically. Both these types can easily offer a very important role in the general ecosystem of your business. The answer to this question will ultimately depend on the resources you have and your needs. In 90% of cases, you’ll probably benefit from having both. Interestingly enough, 78% of millennial sales professionals are now using tools to sell, and 63% state that their tools are critical to their performance.
There are value-added resellers who have peaked in every single vertical industry you can think of. Most of the time they will have even held jobs in the industry. Take Illumiti for example, they are an SAP value-added reseller and they have been given an award for the solutions that serve those who work in construction. This specifically relates to mill products, building materials, building, and mining. Nir Obach, the CEO has released a statement, saying that the tight focus ultimately gives them the ability to build and establish their credentials and domain knowledge. When they talk to others who work in the industry, they understand from the get-go that they can offer as much value as possible.
Partners can Offer Service and Support Integration
A direct rep will often sell the company’s solutions or products. A partner will usually represent various suppliers. This means that a partner can usually integrate a much broader solution for consumers. When you break it down, you will see that this is a win-win. Your product or service gets sold and your customer gets a customised solution that they might not have otherwise had access to. VARS will often surround your core product with other components that provide a customisable solution to customers. These services are what make a solution work in favor of the consumer. Sometimes the solution might be off the shelf, other times they may require custom engagements.
The aspect of the solution cannot be overlooked at the end of the day, It can be a case of where cheap becomes expensive. If a customer’s IT staff are forced to do their own integration then the same team cannot simultaneously work on other day-to-day issues. This can be a bad thing but at the end of the day, you have to remember that there are costs involved with support, integration, and installation. The customer needs to bear these costs, or they need to start using their partner.
One of the main questions that the customer will ask is if it is a core service. If it isn’t, then they may well want to think about having the VAR offer that service instead.
The Importance of Local Intimacy
Customers want help now. It doesn’t matter whether it is at 11 pm on a Sunday because when their business is on the line, nothing should stand in the way of them getting the support they need. Vendors never usually have direct reps available during this time. Their focus will be on enterprise customers instead. When you look at partners, on the other hand, you will soon see that they are able to support their business on a 24/7 basis and that they can often provide solutions immediately. On top of this, depending on the type of partners you have, you will soon see that they add an astronomical amount of value. 78% of salespeople engaged in the realm of social selling tend to outsell those who don’t at all.
Many customers also look to their partners to see if they can give them some guidance or recommendation. The VAR will usually try and get to know them, by asking what kind of issues they intend to solve and what systems are in place to try and get to the root of it. Other questions can include what the budget is, whether it’s a cloud or on-premises solution, and the general implications of making a change. Based on all of these discussions, the VAR will recommend software, hardware, integration services, support, and more. They are responsible for suggesting the best solution for the customer and putting everything together. They also need to make sure that they deliver the results as promised.
This mitigates the risk for the customer as they are getting a solution that is entirely unique from an expert who works in the industry. After the sale has been made, the VAR will be present since their livelihood is dependent on the customer is satisfied. They will also make themselves available where possible so that they can solve issues and then identify any further areas of improvement. The partner’s success is dependent on exceeding every expectation without compromise.
Want to know more about how to build indirect sales? Listen to my interview NOW