VAR Relationship Poll Question
on October 23rd, 2007 at 4:40 pmI had a discussion the other day with one of the sales guys I support. His contention is that it is the sales person / account manager that matters most in the customer relationship. Basically, SE’s come and go, but the important thing is if the AM stays the same. They are responsible for the relationship.
While I tend to agree with that, I also know that when I was in the trenches, I was particularly interested in the engineer because I needed to know that he / she could provide a sound solution and back it up with support (or get the support I needed). The AM was good for lunch, and there was the occasional AM that was fairly technical. But on the whole, I had problems if an engineer quit one my VARs because I would essentially have to retrain the new VAR so they were knowledgeable about my environment.
So what do you think? Answer the poll on the right bar if you get a second. And I consider this poll entirely scientifically accurate, by the way.
Vet
While the salesperson’s relationship can matter, it is a myth that it is the most important part of the sale – it is only one part of it. I would agree the SE’s relationship is more important – it adds more credibility than a salesguy does – it’s just the way a customer’s perception works. If you have a solution to a real problem the customer is having, you can be a less-than-desired rep and still get the deal. And Jim’s insinuation about consulting is totally valid.
Heh – well in the VAR only play – its all about initial meetings and maintaining expectations – I’ve known numerous clients that will only use a particular VAR as long as the SE is there. And I know just as many that are there due to the Sales person. So honestly its comes out to 50/50.
Now if we add consulting in there….