www.comms-dealer.com

Enterprise

Jewell. “Another major pain point is not linking the technical solution to the business benefits. Vendors need to help channels articulate business benefits as opposed to just the features of the product.”

The Enterprise resale market is less crowded than the SME market. End users drive the market, so the market will end up going where end users want it to go, not where resellers or vendors want it to go, said Jewell. “Channels should skill up, talk through the business benefits and perfect sales skills to stay ahead of the game and increase their bottom line so they are not left behind,” he added. “They have to adapt to what the end user requirement is, and it is not box-centric solutions, it is software and cloud-based solutions. That said, all of the SME channels I engage with have a percentage of Enterprise clients, the key is to be able to win consistently in the Enterprise by applying well proven sales methodologies and leveraging the support vendors provide.”

When addressing the Enterprise market resellers need to be honest and assess their own ability to consistently win in the enterprise market. “SME resellers with Enterprise clients need to be asking themselves how and why they won that client, and how can they repeat that and make it consistent,” he commented. “For example, if their top sales guy wins the business but the other team members aren’t capable, it is a recruitment and training issue more than anything else. The three main elements to consider are recruitment,

training and focusing on the business benefits and not a pure technical sale.”

Toshiba’s key strength has traditionally been in supporting small and medium enterprises, as well as contact centre environments, but the recent launch of the CIX1200 means it can focus on the Enterprise market. “This sector has the potential to benefit most from features such as unified communications, unified messaging and presence management, said Daniel Fuller-Smith, Sales Manager, UK and EMEA, Toshiba BCD. “These functions can easily enable Enterprises to increase productivity and effectively use existing resources.”

Compared to the SME market, the sale process for dealers who operate in the Enterprise sector is far more complex. Consequently, resellers need to spend more time getting to know the company in detail having a strong understanding of the business. And resellers in the Enterprise sector are more often required to manage the systems they install. “As a result these dealers have the potential for multiple revenue streams,” added Fuller-Smith. “Dealers should bear in mind that resellers in the Enterprise market require more in-depth sales and engineering training, which can prove quite costly. Nevertheless, this training will benefit them when they are selling to SMEs as well. Ultimately, resellers in the Enterprise sector are business consultants, much more so than SME resellers. Dealers need to make sure they focus on what companies need and not what they want to sell.” n

MARKET REVIEW

Larger systems defy downturn

S

ystem sales at the top end of the market have held their own

despite the recession. And according to Head of System Sales at Distributors Nimans and Rocom, Tim Freeth, the outlook for the larger end of the market remains positive. A key factor behind the resilience of large system sales is that the bigger companies have not experienced the same cashflow problems with the banks as their smaller counterparts. Freeth observes that the sub- 20 market has been the hardest hit by the recession with more lifestyle and entrepreneurial businesses struggling to get investment from the banks. However, cashflow has not been drying up so much among corporates, meaning that larger businesses are still able to invest in communication technology.

Despite this resilience, dealers operating in the corporate sector often take longer to secure a deal compared to SME. “There’s a lot more processes and product demonstrations to go through,” said Freeth. “While 2009 saw a healthy amount of business generated at the higher end of the market, the time scale to close these bigger opportunities is far greater, perhaps six months.”

To help speed things along Freeth advises dealers to build productive relationships with IT managers as opposed to dealing with procurement departments. “IT managers know the market better, but resellers still have a fundamental role

The Comms National Awards yet? Visit cnawards.com

Have you entered

Vertical Market Category

www.comms-dealer.com

COMMS DEALER MAY 2010 35

sponsors the

companies offer pre and post-sales support, spanning all aspects of the sales process, from design to implementation.

Tim Freeth

“It’s dangerous for resellers to remain in their comfort zone”

in educating them about the latest technology and how it can positively impact on their business,” he said.

According to Freeth, the large system market will be just as robust in 2010. “The economy is starting to move forward,” he said. “The public sector is the only area of concern for me, but as the banks gain confidence in lending there will be more opportunities for resellers in all areas of the market. And after the General Election businesses should be able to move ahead with confidence once the uncertainty has gone. Many people are holding back to see what is going to happen.”

While many resellers have evolved their business models to accommodate bigger installations, there is a growing trend for smaller operators to be given a helping hand when required. Nimans and Rocom, for example, have a network services division that bolsters the distributors’ single source solution proposition. The

“The migration to NGNs can be a daunting prospect for many dealers, but with the right support partner in place it should be a smooth and productive transition,” said Freeth. “The primary challenge for resellers is recognising their own capabilities and understanding the technology, how they can support it, price it, design it and put a proposition together at the smaller, medium or large market sectors. It is dangerous for resellers just to continue selling what they know and remain in their comfort zone. When faced with competition that can sell something different, dealers might suddenly become uncompetitive even in their own back yard.”

However, Freeth believes that there is a ‘great opportunity’ out there for dealers. “It’s about having the confidence, recognising the opportunities and being able to position the technology correctly,” he commented. “Resellers will perhaps find fewer opportunities in the public sector, but they still need to demonstrate how the latest technology generates returns on investment. That’s the biggest factor going forward.

“By delivering solutions, such as mobile connectivity and UC, dealers should still be able to get the deal. But they may just have to work a bit harder.”

n Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56