Channels of the Future Webcast

The Trusted Business Advisor (TBA) webcast on Social Media and Resellers was well attended and participants asked a lot of very good questions. All confirming that social media is having a big impact on the IT value chain – and resellers want to understand how to use these new tools to their advantage. Since most vendors are not helping resellers move into the future, the channel has to figure it out themselves, with a little help from their friends at Mar.com and Gilwell Group.

Much of the information presented during the webinar came from the TBA research program, which is measuring reseller adoption of next generations tools and products like social media and SaaS. These on-line surveys have been continuously emailed to resellers since February. Approximately 250 surveys have been completed to date. Most of the results are freely available at This Link

The most interesting discovery is that resellers who report year-on-year revenue increases are using social media significantly more than partners who report that their revenue is flat or declining. Most likely, there is a stronger correlation between reseller success and early adopter behavior than between growth and social media use. Still, current social media usage is obviously one indicator of reseller revenue growth potential.

The presenters discussed the shrinking channel and gave some reasons for it: the economic downturn, consolidation, morphing of traditional resellers into consulting organizations, and fewer entrepreneurs in IT as the industry matures. Even though this issue elicited several questions, we are still looking for the data that backs up these assertions. While everyone is talking about fewer resellers this year, we don’t yet have the numbers to tell us how many, what kinds, or why.

Social Media is changing the traditional solution-oriented sales process. Customers increasingly expect that competent salespeople will do much of their discovery on-line and arrive at their first meeting with an understanding of their company, product needs, and purchasing process. Conversely, salespeople can expect that qualified buyers will research them on-line and draw conclusions about their competency from their profiles in spaces like LinkedIn, Facebook, and BlogSpot. Cold calls are no longer effective in selling IT products and services.

The ROI of social media usage is a another hot topic. In many ways, it is as difficult to calculate an ROI on social media as it is with any other marketing investment. Organizations and people use social media because it makes communication easier, not because there is a clear ROI. Since communication is a big part of doing business, there are clear (if unquantifiable) benefits to using new tools. However, organizations that have good data on activities associated with communications will be able to calculate the ROI. Examples include measuring the cost for a sales contact, a proposal, a support call, technical problem resolution, etc. There is good information about social media ROI from Forrester. Some of it available at www.lithum.com. (Lithium a leader in enterprise on-line communities.)

The realization that vendors were strengthening relationships directly with end users through social media – and bypassing the channel completely -- was no surprise. Vendors have always marketing directly to end users. However, what is alarming to the channel is that social media provides a two-way dialogue and smart vendors are gathering customer information which might be useful for future on-line sales initiatives. If customers, after engaging in an on-line community, decide that they want to purchase a product they have been discussing, it’s easier to just click over to an electronic storefront. In these cases, reseller disintermediation could become an issue again.

Several resellers asked during the webinar about getting started with social media. For this, I recommend the following two blogs. Both provide some information on steps that you can take today.

Social Media 101 for Channel Managers at . This Link

The End of Email at This Link

In addition, there are literally thousands of web sites, blogs, and tutorials on how to increase business performance and improve your personal life with social media tools. Just spend some time with Google and you will have more reference sites than you can handle.

If you want to hear the webinar, follow this link. https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/752358161

Mike Dubrall is Managing Director of Gilwell Group, a consulting company that specializes in “Channels of the Future” research.

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Channels of the Future Webcast

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Discussion Threads Are Real Potential For True Collaboration

I applaud the Channels of the Future Research regarding What Every Vendor Ought to Know About Killing Their Channel. As has been the rule, it's the channel partners who have owned the relationships with the consumer and those resellers who provided the manufacturer significant value as feet on the street and the personal touch.

Now, a well thought out social media engagement is all about reaching the customer and the dynamics allow a few to have significant reach. Fifty years ago a sales manager had maybe 5 interactions a week. Ten years ago and still today sales people may reach as many as 50 customers a week. In the new world a social media empowered sales person may have 50 quality customer interactions ONE DAY. This allows a manufacturer & their internal teams much more bandwidth and reach -- tentacles direct to the consumer. If you also consider the potential for a manufacturer to engage their engineers, support personnel, customer service, or even R&D department into the blend of online conversations -- that manufacturer again has less need for the channel.

I am, however, of the firm belief that sales channel will ultimately survive from the standpoint of their real value add to a manufacturer. A manufacturer who has no desire to take on such overhead and infrastruture as to manage every field installation and project rollout for example. A 2 tiered distribution channel was a key part of their go to market strategy.

From a practical standpoint then, it only makes sense for the manufacturer's to incorporate their channel from the start of their initiative. As has been proven time and again, manufacturers who do the best job educating their resellers will win in the end. It sounds good then that discussion threads are truly collaborative between the consumer (who is SO much happier with all the attention), the reseller (who is "being of service" & knows the job site), and the manufacturer (who is maintaining his brand reputation & keeping his competitors at bay). Skip snail e-mail and jump to discussion threads is a solid recommendation for any corporation or channel partner. The new social web creates an environment where we all can finally realize the true value of collaboration.

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Discussion Threads Are Real Potential For True Collaboration

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The New “Indie Author” Profits Multiply Via The Socialized Web

It’s been predicted in the May Forbes Magazine Article that Amazon is poised to become the worlds #1 publisher in the very near future as evidenced by the services they are currently promoting. Here we see evidence of forward thinking leaders who understood the vulnerabilities inherent in an old-school economics-based “book” publishing model and also understood the collaborative nature of the digital economy. Amazon is offering services directly to authors, forming a value-added relationship, and eliminating the need for the traditional middlemen. Authors can now embrace a well deserved long overdue fat profit check for their creative work versus one whole or one half percentage point for each book sale! Speaking on behalf of all author’s worldwide – thank you Digital Age for our release from the out-worn bureaucracy. Amazingly wonderful a group of corporate executives are listening to their customers and making business decisions based on user generated content. I would imagine they get a hint or two based on their popular recommendation system packed full of feedback or knowing exactly how many times “any of us out here” search for any given title. Is it any wonder they are also now in the re-print “out-of-print” book business? Hardly a surprise if you are following the publishing industry as of late.

Founder of MIT's Media Lab, Nicholas Negroponte, pointed out very eloquently over a decade ago in his book "Being Digital" ... to make money in the 21st century; "own the content!" Disney is one example of a corporation whose business model has always included owning their content; but huge corporations will not be the publishing industries only competitive threat. In this social, networked world an individual / author can empower themselves to compete without the need of current distribution systems, or even Amazon if they so choose. An author can have as much reach as a corporation or publisher to get the word out. Let’s take a self published author for example, who has established true "Social Capitol Value" for themselves using online Web 2.0 tools and networks. By Social Capitol Value I mean someone whose personal network of people can reach well over a half million or more at the third generation with about three months worth of effort. 20 of their friends & business associates could establish a reach of up to 10 million more people. Word of mouth and online discussions replace advertising and since the author's content is so very compelling, this invigorated network drives potential book buyers to the authors URL to purchase the book directly. So yes the reach of an independent “Indie Author” could go as far as a corporation and again the middleman is left by the wayside – a system whose hey day is washing away from lost value. If an author uses Amazon as their preferred go to market strategy, the books’ likely better placement within the search engine won't necessarily be based on their "buying rank" – for again their Social Capitol Value will come into play. For in the example of the socialized “Indie Author”, the books popularity and search engine ranking will be gained by the shear numbers of readers who post comments about the book, from all those who tweet about their find, who listen to the author speak on YouTube, who Digg a review, or who share the title with their book club. Perhaps they are motivated because they interacted directly with the author via FaceBook or downloaded the book to their Kindle. These social activities, peer recommendations, and postings from the authors fan base will be their marketing vehicle and branding engine. Their social network combined with quality content will allow the “Indie Author” the self-publishing & self-promotion engine just as the “Indie Musicians” have already proven. Neither publishers nor corporations nor authors should underestimate the power of the social networked world we now live in. The dynamic is exponential in its very nature.

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