Monday, November 16, 2015

Being Introvert and Channel Sales

The term introvert is often misunderstood. It is not someone, who doesn’t necessarily like people, it is just that he/she takes some time to get on with most of the people.

Usually they may not fall for someone on the first sight. I would define them as realists and not impulsive in thought and behavior, which translates to a good relationship manager. In my college days, a lot of the time the definition of a salesman was one who could sell ice to the Eskimo. But I always beg to differ, why do we need to sell ice to an Eskimo? Does he really need it, are we doing justice to a relationship by doing so. The so called extrovert could be someone who does sell ice to the Eskimo and may get something in the short term. But an introvert or a relationship guy would actually introspect and see what makes sense to the Eskimo, and offer him that thereby deriving a mutual benefit.

In channel sales, it is the same in order to ascertain what the channel partner wants. We should work with our ears more than our mouth, a characteristic that one would ideally see in an introvert, someone who doesn't necessarily blow you away with his/her charisma and outgoing nature but digs deep into what makes sense to all involved.

Most of the B2B sales superstars I have seen were Dynamic, Aggressive and Extrovert. They are great at establishing instant connect, influencing the customers and walking out with that deal.
There are people who are not Dynamic & Aggressive but they are best relationship builders, and they are called Introvert.

I believe Channel Sales, is not about that instant connect, or about that one deal. It's about building relationship, winning mind share and being a product evangelist. In Channel sales, you are interacting with business owners and they are concerned about many things, not just ROI. They are more interested in a relationship, rather than the product.

When it comes to building a relationship, I believe introvert, always look for long term relationship, they take that extra step to build the rapport and win the confidence. Introvert research well, before taking anything to either resellers or customers. They don't feel confident to ask someone to invest in their product or services until they have convinced themselves.

Channel sales is more about being a coordinator or a link between OEM, Partners & Customers. To be a good coordinator two skills, play key role, one you have to be keen listener and second to be a good observer. And these skills come to Introverts naturally, which makes them to be able to understand people and the situation better for better Coordination.

Communicating your business Idea/Model effectively and setting the right expectations are very important in channel sales. And Communication is the answer here. Introverts are good in word selection and setting the tone for the discussion. And hence they could able to communicate business model effectively and set right expectation.

I think Introverts with their natural skills, to be a good listener, observer and relationship builder make them a better choice for Channel Sales.

I would appreciate your feedback, view and opinion on the subject.

Monday, October 12, 2015

Transition in Channel & Distribution Business

The transformation began 5-6 years back when cloud introduced to the world. It took good time by customers to accept or trust cloud as an option or better option to their traditional IT Infrastructure. Today it became the best option for many organizations along with Virtualization.

A few years back primary objective/Goal for an IT reseller was to do volume business by selling popular on demand product or add more products to increase the revenue.

But now with the change in scenarios where Cloud has taken the center stage and SMAC (Social, Mobile, Analyst and Cloud) has become the guiding star. So, does the priorities and focus of reseller have also been changed.

Today a primary objective for a good reseller is to build a recurring business model. And keep SMAC in mind all the time.

Second biggest opportunity today reseller having is to take consulting as a service seriously as a business option. Today customer is overloaded with information and Technology. And with this overload he is more confused than ever before. Every six months technology is changing, where he should invest, how he should invest and how much he should invest is the churning at customer end.

The mindset of CIOs is changing. They are more focused on OPEX model than CAPEX. They like to utilize the amount used in CAPEX in new Technologies/Initiatives.

At distributor end also, things are changing. Distributors are diversifying by Investing in startups. Some are creating their own IPs (Intellectual Property).

The recent success of the MindBox event on Gaming Competition at Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, and Mumbai, which is a creation of ARK Infosolutions Pvt. ltd., who are one of the leading distribution houses in India for various software. MindBox is an initiative by ARK to offer their expertise in the Creative Education segment.

Distribution house like Neoteric has started investing in number of Startups recently. Most talks about is their investment in a Bangalore based 3D Printer manufacturing startup "Fractal Works".

Distribution of IT will be their priority and they are known for it. But by doing this they are also making sure to have recurring or alternate business model ready for the future.

SMAC will keep driving the industry for few more years until next big thing, i.e. “Internet of Things” will disrupt the industry once again with its Applications, Devices and Technology.

One more thing we should keep in mind regarding pricing. There was a time of perpetual pricing, now world has moved to Subscription based pricing and the future belongs to consumption based pricing.

So, mantra will be to Adapt, Adapt, Adapt, or perished.