Dell equips partners to sell

New Delhi: A year into its channel program-PartnerDirect, and Dell is already seeing its initiative bear fruits. After the initial phase of appointing partners across the country the company is now focusing on strengthening this group of 300 to 325 partners. "We have been very selective with our partner tie-ups as we are clear we want partners with a certain skill-set around enterprise business. We have created tools and enablers for our partners to take advantage of the opportunity we have for them," commented Neeraj Singh, Head-Commercial Channel Operations, Dell India. Attributing much of Dell's success over the past year to the channel, Singh conferred that the channel was a key part of its growth in India.

In line with the company's vision, to be the number one vendor of choice for its partners, Dell has undertaken a number of activities. For starters, the vendor is taking feedback from the channel and investing in areas that make sense for both parties. "Dell has taken partner feedback on it's portal and worked on them. It has also created an advisory council and taken many of the ideas that have come up on this platform," said Singh. A new portal, which is said to be more user-friendly with better navigation tools, campaign building tools and marketing collateral to help partners, will shortly be launched.

Training is another area the vendor is focusing on. "On the basis of all the feedback, we have initiated product trainings for the pre-sales and sales representatives of partners' companies. We also have a certification program which consists of Storage Certification, Server Certification and Enterprise Architecture Certification programs, with the latter being the highest tier. The idea is to train the sales team of partners so that they are well equipped to answer the queries of customers," stated Singh. Six months back a quarterly rebate and incentive program were also announced.

Taking it's online support a step further, Dell is also offering an online configuration to a select number of partners, "Using this tool partners can configure a product as per their client's requirement and get an approximate price," informed Singh.

Even on the services front the vendor has taken steps to involve the channel. "In certain regions where we don't have our service network, eg Northeast, we have allowed our partners to service customers so that they can show commitment and gain profitability," claimed Singh. These partners are termed as Dell Appointed Service Providers. In the first quarter of FY 2009-10, Dell will be launching Customer Appointed Service Providers, which would mean that even in regions where Dell has its own setup, if a customer is fine being serviced by the channel then he can go ahead with that particular partner.

The other aspect the company is focusing on to achieve its vision is by managing conflicts amongst partners and/or direct team. "We have a limited number of partners and have framed rules of engagement on the basis of which we approve or reject opportunities coming from partners. We also have a very clear escalation process," said Singh.

Sharing details about the criteria they look at when selecting partner, Sandeep Sharan, Channel Sales Director, Dell India said, "Among the things we look at while selecting include their capability of providing solutions and turnover from solutions in enterprise space. They need to have an inclination towards Dell business." Sharan added that they had noticed that Dell tends to share a great match with tier-2 partners. "That is probably because these set of partners are eager to move on to the next league," stated Sharan.

While the vendor on its part claims to be going all out to engage with its channel, it may be recalled that earlier this year a few partners had expressed apprehension with Dell's channel policies with regard to DGS&D rate contracts. Dealers dealing with DGS&D rate contracts in Dehradun had claimed that the company was engaging in unethical business practices and taking undue advantage of the tie-up that they (Dell) had established with them. To this, Sharan stated, "We have demonstrated our commitment to the channel over the last one year. The registration process is a step in this direction and we are seeing a lot of attraction from the channels now."

Singh concluded that Dell was working with partners in a relationship in which leads were being provided to the latter by account managers. "We share accounts with them as well. We are going the whole hog with certain partners we are engaging with, so that it is a win-win for both," said Singh.

The PartnerDirect Program is divided under consumer and commercial business. While small business (SBs) come under Dell's consumer business and is catered to by distributors, the commercial business consists of public, government, healthcare; large enterprises, corporate; medium businesses (MBs). This business vertical is catered to by Dell's solution providers.